Surely MK isn't asking for ugly pictures of the sierras.. We all have hundreds of those.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but he is asking to see more "artistic" notions we have of the Sierra. Suggesting that we all know of the booming, grand, god speaking from the sky, type of image, but he s asking for an individual, intimate take on the place. We are a group of people that are so driven by this landscape and place that we sit at home and exchange our love of it with strangers, in place of actually being there.
Speaking for myself, I continually find it difficult to seperate the sierra from the "grand landscape" type photograph. Photography for me speaks to personal experience, and my experience in the Sierra is very much about that grand landscape.
For me it's hard to find irony, and a kind of "human comedy" high in the mountains, and that is infact one of the main reasons i find myself retreating there...the other of course is, fish.
Let me try and explain visually...
I find these all to be good representaions of how i like to make photographs of my experiences,
ie. The Florida Keys, Eastern Oregon, and Air Travel.
And this is the most succesful way i have represented my sierra experience. Yet to me still very heavy with the "grand landscape" feel, but that is simply the nature of the beast...
Sorry if this is more than people care to chew on, but i find this is a very interesting topic... I have a feeling MK and myself are what i endearingly like to refer to as Art F%#s...