Book Review by Brian Rope
Time
Carved In Stone: Benjamin Kopilow
All
photographs, text and design by Benjamin Kopilow
Published
by Benjamin Kopilow, ©2026. All rights reserved.
1st
Edition. Published in Canberra, Australia
ISBN:
978-1-291-82268-7
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| The cover of the book - image |
Benjamin Kopilow is a photographer, teacher and mentor. I have personally experienced Ben in all those roles when he has spoken and shown his images at our local photographic society, and evaluated members’ works providing quality commentary and advice.
Kopilow’s interest in visual art didn’t begin with photography, but with conversations with his painter father as he grew up - about colour, shape, light, and composition. Painting wasn’t his talent, but photography became his way of exploring those same ideas. More than twenty years after a mid-30s career change to photography, this experienced and award-winning photographer says he is still fascinated by the way light, colour and composition can transform an ordinary scene into something memorable.
In 2025 Kopilow and his wife travelled through some of the world's great desert and wilderness places, those of California and the Great Colorado Basin. He says the four weeks journey enabled him to explore and experience those places through form, shadow, texture, colour, and scale. He believes landscapes are sculptures shaped by time, and geological forces, then revealed in different ways by ever changing light.
Using
images captured during the journey, Kopilow has now created this book. Time
Carved in Stone is not simply images showing readers where they
travelled. Much more significantly, this artist (for that is what he is) through
his photo-art and accompanying words enables us to vicariously see what he
refers to as a journey through deep time.
Each of twenty chapters looks at another place. First up is Death Valley with its salt-cracked floor. The last explores the polished granite walls of Yosemite National Park, well-known for the famous Ansel Adams’ images of it.
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| Death Valley |
Along the way we see various canyons including, of course, the Grand Canyon. The Kolb Brothers (who invented the selfie) pioneered the capturing of this canyon’s beauty in black and white in the early 1900s, but Kopilow’s beautiful colour images here are something else. We see the folded spine of Capitol Reef and the vast red silence of Monument Valley. The artist tells us that all of his landscape images are not merely describing, they allow us to see them in quiet contemplation. He is right.
Before the first chapter there are informative words, a map and an image of the Colorado Basin. Then there are 64 pages of glorious images revealing, amongst other features, Kanab and Horseshoe Bend.
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| Kanab Sand Caves |
Next some words about and images of Monument Valley inform and reveal to us that the glorious landscape and the magical sounds of traditional flutes of the Navajo. Then we learn about numerous other locations, including Factory Butte, Hickman Bridge, Escalante, Kodachrome Basin, Maple Mountain Provo, and Great Salt Lake.
In the chapter about Factory Butte there is an illustrated page of information about Buttes, Mesas, Pinnacles and Hoodoos. Here it is, so you can read it and learn if, like me, you need to.
If, again like me, you have never visited some of these places, you may not have even heard their names. Nevertheless, as you explore the pages you will recognise particular features because you have seen photos of them before. But there will be many other features that are new to you. Regardless of which category any particular image fits into for each of us, every one of them is an excellent sensory contribution to our appreciation of the geological history of these areas.
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| Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Land |
The images in each chapter reveal peaceful places that our minds can return to without necessarily looking at them again. I suspect those who practice meditation would consider them most useful resources.
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| Bryce Canyon & Fairyland |
We are able to explore these places that have been shaped by geology – by prehistoric oceans and inland seas, vanished deserts, restless rivers. For hundreds of millions of years, unseen geological forces have been quietly sculpting. It has been said that in these places is North America’s hidden backbone, the ancient core beneath us when flying or driving over, or walking amongst, them.
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| Moonscape Canyon |
The quality of both the words and images in this book provide a basis for us to think about the passage of time and its significance in life. Kopilow has used his personal sensory experiences to create images which have transformed the centuries old landscapes into living archives. He has delivered an excellent contribution to what is known as the quiet narrative genre, which relies primarily on his visual storytelling to convey messages, evoke emotions, and provoke thought. It challenges our perceptions and offers a deeper understanding of our human experiences.
Links to make purchases of the book in e-book, paperback and hard cover formats are available on the artist’s website, Lulu, Kobo and Ben’s Books.
This review is also available on the author's blog.
