MICHAEL PLYLER

I got into photography in my junior year of college. I took a basic
black and white darkroom course and was hooked. That was the extent of my
formal training. As I had already changed my major 3 times up to that point,
I decided to pursue photography as an avocation for the time being.

Upon graduation I worked as a field archaeologist in Southern Nevada.
Mostly it was hot. I mean really HOT! This was 1978 and my wage as a top
flight field archaeologist was a whopping $4.25 per hour. After about six
months I was promoted to a supervisory position with a raise to $4.50 per
hour. I immediately asked myself, "What's wrong with this picture?" (No pun
intended).

My best friend in college and in life was Jim Bush. From the day I met
him all he could talk about was getting a job with the Clark County, Nevada
Fire Department. Good pay and bennies, and your weekends were six days long.
You get two of these six day weekends a month. After being informed of my
promotion and big raise as an archaeologist, I went to cry in my beer and
pizza with Jim, "$4.50 an hour isn't even enough money to support my film
habit," I sulked. Jim's response was, "Mike, why don't you join the fire
department?" So I did. I served seven years with the Clark County Fire
Department in Las Vegas. My most intense experience as a fireman was
fighting the MGM Grand fire in 1980. At the time it was the worst fire in
U.S history with 85 souls lost.

I used my substantial pay and considerable time off to hone my
photographic skills. My "six days" were spent traveling and photographing,
and my other singular days off were spent in the darkroom. In 1980 the first
paid vacation of my life took me to the Mexican Yucatan and Guatemala. It
was five weeks and only one of those weeks was spent in Guatemala. After 3
days there I wished I had spent four weeks in Guatemala and one in the
Yucatan. I was fascinated by the Mayan Indians there. ALL my subsequent
vacations from the fire department were spent in Guatemala making images. In
1983 the fire department was running in the red and asked volunteers to take
up to six months leave without pay in an attempt to balance the books. As I
had just filed my tax return and was due to receive a $2,700 refund, I
immediately did the selfless thing and took a 3 month leave of absence in
Guatemala. Through as series of events that can only be described as kismet
or serendipitous, I received a commission from the Guatemalan Tourist
Institute. This resulted in my first international exhibition at their
headquarters in June of 1983. I have made twelve trips in twenty years
photographing Guatemala and the Maya.

I have also traveled extensively in Spain and Italy. The fruits of those
labors comprise this show, "From Ely to Iberia." I also conduct my own
workshop program with my friend Jim McGlasson. Our Utah Canyons Workshops
are centered in Utah and Nevada. Our Nevada workshop takes us to the Nevada
Northern Railway Museum in Ely, Nevada. This is a rich target environment
for photographers. Five images from Ely are also included in this exhibit.
My home is in Springdale, Utah in Zion Canyon. I live there with my wife,
Sandy Bell and Sadie our dog, and Annabelle the cat. Zion National Park with
it's ever changing moods and light provides a constant source of
inspiration.

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