One way to assess This is the American Earth, a collection of photographs selected and arranged by Nancy Newhall, is to apply Newshall's own criteria for judging photographic art. Does this photographic essay achieve results impossible in other media? By contrasting the small with the vast – for example, placing a photo of a rock pool next to one of a spiral galaxy – Newhall exploits the camera's ability to manipulate the size of an object, thereby challenging viewers to question their conventional concepts of size. However, a similar result could be achieved in the medium of painting. Does the work bear its creator's imprint, and does it draw viewers' interest even after repeated viewings, Newhall's second and third criteria? Indeed, Newhall's work bears her unmistakable imprint in the juxtaposition of the photos and in the rhythmic prose accompanying them, but the individual viewer must decide whether Newhall's work evokes, as it did for this reviewer, new experiences upon subsequent viewings.