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22nd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Illusions of erosion

Somewhere between imagination, an explorer engravings book, or a Frank Capra movie, the captivating Spiti river edges transport you delicately to your inner world, your secret Shangri-La, where time seems suspended forever. Those enigmatic rock formations are like giants protecting a millenary and fragile secret, that of life which makes its way through the desert and hostile lands of the high Indian Himalayas. I took this picture when walking along the Spiti river (october 2022) in the Indian Himalaya and I was so amazed by the incredible, stunning and fantastic shapes surrounding me.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 10.2022
Date Uploaded: 12.2024
Photo Location: India
Camera: ILCE-7M3
Copyright: © Stéphane de Rouville