ROCK STAR

Nature photographer Michael Fatali wanted to be a professional musician. Heaven and Earth had other plans.

BY Lonn Friend

It's a cloudy Tuesday afternoon in Henderson. Monsoon season has engulfed the Vegas valley with a vengeance. Rain has been falling on and off since morning. Desert dwellers are going about their business, waiting for the sun; waiting for the light. But inside Sacred Earth Images—photographer Michael Fatali's gallery located in Green Valley's high-end District mall—the weather is perfect. In fact, it's better than perfect. It's divine.

"I've been to these places," says a young man staring slack-jawed at the image titled Sentinel of Eden. "But they never looked like this. I'm speechless.

"Fatali hears the comment, grins shyly, and offers a brief commentary to his patron. "This is Zion, my home," he says proudly. "That's the great white throne; it's sacred. I would return to this particular spot the same time each season, for 12 years, and wait for the right light. Nothing came together until 1998. That year in the park the fall colors were exquisite."

Waiting 12 years to get the right shot seems extreme, even by eccentric artistic standards. But that's precisely what has driven Fatali to absolute eminence in the field of nature photography over the past two decades; that and his ineffable love for this planet's terrific terra firma.

"A passion for creation and the spirit of creation has always fueled me," he explains. "I feel I have an authentic sense of purpose in my life." Fatali was born in Brooklyn but moved to Arizona when he was 6. His father's influence was multifold. He took him hiking, gave him a look at the land that he would come to revere. He also introduced him to another kind of rock.

"My dad bought me my first guitar," he recalls with a canyon-wide grin. "My first dream was to be a rock guitarist. I have a deep love of music. In the darkroom while printing, I always listen to Pink Floyd." It wasn't his father, however, that ultimately inspired Fatali to give up six strings for shutter speeds. It was his mother, who passed away when he was 15. "She was diagnosed with cancer when I was 12 or 13 and struggled 'til her death. Making that journey with her connected me to nature and creation. I was troubled so I would go to natural places as a sanctuary to discover who I was. Her death, in a way, saved my life."

Sacred Earth Images is not really a gallery. It's more like a museum. You feel a sense of permanence when you enter the space. The atmosphere is almost hypnotic. The breathtaking, inexplicable, almost surreal beauty of Fatali's life's work that gracefully cover the walls of the intimate two-story enclave instantly seduce you. And the fact that what you're experiencing is not a computer- generated, artificially contrived Pixar-esque production is all the more mind-boggling.

You may wonder why Fatali chose America's most arguably imbalanced and maniacal municipality to display his photographic spirit. Well, like with his photos, it's all about the light. "I've had galleries in incredible natural settings like Zion and Lake Powell," he says. "I feel as I evolve as an artist I have a divine duty to communicate my message. Coming to Vegas allows me to share that message - the healing beauty of nature and connection to the Earth with more people. There are a lot of dark elements to this town as with every urban area. If you have a message to share and a gospel to preach, go to the place that needs it the most."

A month after the gallery opened last April, a very special guest dropped in for a look-see. "Former President Clinton spent an hour here," he smiles. "He was so kind and easy to talk to and bought one of my original prints, Sunkissed, photographed at Joshua Tree. He said he wanted to give it to Bono as a gift, evoking the spirit of U2's album Joshua Tree. I got a letter from President Clinton a couple weeks ago that said he loved the photograph so much, he kept it and it hangs in his New York office. He said he looks at it every day and it makes him feel good. Hey, maybe Bono will come in when U2 plays here in November. God, would that be incredible?"

Not incredible, really. More like two rock stars, hanging out, waiting for the right light.

Reprinted with permission from Las Vegas Life