Another addition to #OliversSteeples 🏔 AND another reminder that TOMORROW is the last day to pick up a copy of ARCO! So if you’ve been meaning to grab one, now’s your chance! 
Some dreamy film from the mountains, including a few shots from my first real roll of black & white film! (Kindly gifted by @lydiiarumsey!!) Most of the snow has melted by now, but it was beautiful while it lasted. . 
So I decided that I take enough pictures of churches that I should start another hashtag. (Like my #/NotOliversCar or #/OliversShadowSelfies ones) Now officially introducing... #OliversSteeples 🙌🏼😂 
This is the last photo I’ll share of/from Arco for now! This one isn’t in the book but is kinda fun. It’s me in Craters of the Moon on film from early 2017. I had my brother @henry_dahl take it the first time our family ever visited. A few more trips and rolls of film later and something beautiful was made. :) . Thanks again to everyone who has ordered a copy of ARCO! Orders will close this weekend on March 6th! Then I’ll order all the copies and ship them out! I’m excited for you to see it! 
7 MORE DAYS // Link in my bio . Thanks so much again to everyone who has ordered copies! I’m so excited for you to see them! 🤘🏼 
Welcome to Arco, Idaho, the first city in the world to be lit by atomic power. This sign inspired the stickers that are being sent out to the next few people who order copies of ARCO! I also included a few more sneak peeks into the book. I can't wait to get it into your hands. Also... place an order while you can! Orders will end March 6th! Link in bio // www.oliverdahl.com/arco 
Atomic City, just a short drive away from Arco, is very nearly a ghost town. This medium format film photo of the edge of town there is one of my all-time favorites. 
American nights. ⚡️I’ve got a few more photos to share from ARCO before orders close on March 6th. But this was the last one I took—and the last one in the book. 👀 
You can kinda see why they picked this place for nuclear energy testing. This photo was taken in a rest stop off the highway. . 2 more weeks to pick up your copy of ARCO! I decided to extend pre-orders through March 6th! 
Another motel sign from Arco. I’ve been enjoying the snow but also itching to see spring flowers again. . #OliversMotelSigns 
Ok look, I’ll be honest. This photo of an outhouse is probably one of my favorite film photos that I’ve ever taken. Expired Kodak Gold 200 has never looked better. The greens, blues, and black rock just go together so so well. I love @cratersofthemoon_nps ❤️ 
Anyone up for a picnic? ❄️ . I also made some cute Arco stickers! If you’ve already ordered a copy or are one of the next 25 people to order a copy, you’ll get one! :) I put one in my archive binder and love it very much. 
Driving into Arco. 🏔 I love how the mural fits in with the horizon line and landscape at this angle. It’s like a make-pretend window, but behind the building there’s actually just desert. (Metaphor much? Something something whited sepulchers?) 
This photo is different from most of the others in my ARCO book, but one of my favorites nonetheless. Seeing it printed on a full page made it even better. Honestly seeing it phone-screen-sized is almost disappointing now. 
⚡️ Motel signs by night. ⚡️ . An addition to #OliversMotelSigns :) and an outtake from ARCO. 
One of my favorite sites in Arco, and one of my favorite photos in the book. 😍 . First photo: Summer 2020, expired Kodak Gold 200 Second photo: Spring 2017, digital, from my very first visit to Arco. Had no idea I’d be doing an entire book all about that town. Cute. 🥰 
Strangers for scale. 🌚 Too bad they forgot their space suits! 👩🚀👨🚀 
A prototype for a nuclear aircraft engine collecting snow in the Idaho desert? More likely than you think. 😌 . Photos of BOTH nuclear aircraft engine prototypes (yes, both of them... there are two) are in my book, ARCO... you know where to click! 👉🏼😏👉🏼 
Expired film vs. Digital 🎞 in the unique landscape of Craters of the Moon National Monument! . (The film version is the one in the book 🤘🏼) 
#OliversShadowSelfies in Arco, Idaho . Pre-orders for ARCO will close on the 28th of February, and after that I probably won’t print anymore! Don’t miss out! 
The fairy motel with Number Hill in the distance. Someday I’ll spend the night here 😂 #OliversMotelSigns . This was a late addition to the book, but the way the mountains were glowing in the back was too perfect. 😍 . (Also, this is actually the “Lost River Motel,” but I’ve subconsciously started calling it the fairy motel for obvious reasons.) 
This is one of my all-time favorite #NotOliversCar contributions. 😍 . The second photo is included in my book ARCO, too 👀 
This was taken on film outside of the world’s first nuclear breeder reactor, just outside of Arco, Idaho. EBR-1 was a predecessor to the reactor that later went on to power Arco and give it its claim to fame as the “first city in the world to be lit by atomic power.” . Another reactor experienced a fatal accident that killed all three men working at the time. Their bodies had to be recovered in incremental shifts to limit the rescuers’ radioactive exposure. The workers were buried in lead coffins and then under concrete. This dark chapter changed Idaho & nuclear history forever, even if it’s not something often talked about. . This photo and a deeper look at the story of the fatal reactor meltdown are both in my new book, ARCO - available at the link in my bio. Reserve your copy today! 👉🏼😏👉🏼 
Craters of the Moon is such a weird place. But I think it’s one of my favorites! The little tufts of green against the black lava rock are so beautiful to me! . Fun fact: Apollo astronauts visited Craters of the Moon in 1969 to learn soil sampling processes they would later repeat on the moon. Pretty cool! . Arco on its own would’ve been a cool enough subject matter for this newest book, but because it’s so close to Craters of the Moon, I was able to include photos from both places! They go together so well—an odd mix of oddly beautiful things found in the high desert of Idaho. . Pre-orders for ARCO will stay open through most of February, and will likely not be available again after that time. So if you want a copy, place your order soon! 
(3/3) - “ARCO” features 45 full-color photos—a thoughtful mix of film and digital photography from four different trips to Arco over three different seasons of the year. It represents my most focused, intentional body of photographic work, and features several short written pieces as well, detailing some of the stories and mysteries of the high desert. . ARCO is available now for pre-order at the link in my bio. . And for funsies, the analog photos in ARCO were shot on the two cameras in the second photo—my grandpa’s Pentax K1000 & my beloved Mamiya 645. 
(2/3) - I’m SO SO excited to share my next photo book, “ARCO” with y’all! 😍🤩 . “ARCO” is a photographic exploration of the town of Arco, Idaho and the nearby Craters of the Moon National Monument. Once the nation’s hub for nuclear energy testing, Arco is known as the “first city in the world to be lit by atomic power.” . Lava flows, neon signs, colorful motels, and a hillside covered in numbers stand as relics of time long past. This high-desert town has its share of dark secrets too—like the “devil boat” (the submarine sail featured on the cover) and the aftermath of a fatal nuclear accident. . This book has been almost a year in the making, and includes photos from 4 different trips to Arco during different seasons of the year. It’s been hard to resist sharing photos along the way, but I think you’ll find (as I have) that it’s worth the wait! This is some of my best work yet. And I’m so excited to share it with you! . You can order a copy of ARCO at the link in my bio! After pre-orders close, I likely won’t print any more copies. So grab one (or seven 🤷♂️) while you can! 
(1/3) - The windswept snow & lava rock gravel of Craters of the Moon National Monument make for some beautiful contrast. . Oh and surprise - I have a new photo book?? Available for pre-order RIGHT NOW!! At the link in my bio!! 🎉🤘🏼🙏🏼🙌🏼🎉 
Another medium format film photo, this one taken from the same hill where I took the last one I posted, just looking back at the parking lot. . I’ll still tag this as “#NotOliversCar” cause the car is a significant part of the composition here. But uh... this time it actually IS my car. :) 
This is a really cool old church building. And I actually included this photo in (another) article that I published about my photowalks around Provo! Link in my bio! Go check it out! . So yeah you may be catching on that I am writing blog post/photo essay things now! This definitely won’t be an every day thing, but I’ve got a lot of ideas and a LOT of photos that I want to share. I’ve loved Instagram (as much as I also hate it haha) but I want my photos to live somewhere else, too. (I’ll still be posting on Instagram!) But in blog form, I get to share more stories and thoughts and background behind some of the photos. And they get to be seen and enjoyed by people anytime! On social media, after a photo is about a week old, it seems like nobody ever sees or appreciates it again. . So this (in addition to printed work... hint hint 👀) is my approach to helping my photos live longer, tell a better story, and be enjoyed more intentionally. Maybe that’s kinda cringey but that’s art, baby. 😎 
A few photos from a walk I went on this month. #OliversShadowSelfies 
U know the drill. Color or b&w? 
One of my first attempts at nighttime photography on film! It actually turned out even better than my digital ones from the same spot. I got lucky guessing exposure time in the snow. Now I’m hungry for a 4 for $4. 😋 
This cute purple car is an outtake. “An outtake of what?” you ask? 👀 Well... I’ll tell you all about it next week. 😏 #NotOliversCar 
Swimming pool blues on film 🏊♂️ (featuring someone’s kid right as they walked into the corner of the frame haha) . #PentaxK1000 #cinestill800t 
Another one?! Yeah. Another one. #NotOliversCar (In fact, you can even see the yellow truck from the last entry further down the street in this photo.) 
Cool sign = cool shadows! :))))) #OliversShadowSelfies 
A little corner of America for today. Cracks in the pavement, power-lines overhead, mountains in the distance, and an old car? Yeah you got me. 🤷♂️ #NotOliversCar 
Red Rock Junction was an unexpected highlight of my drive back to Utah. I’d love to go back and get a shot of a train passing by. 
I shot my first roll of @cinestillfilm recently. 👀 I really like how moody it makes this bus stop look haha. 
Happy Sunday! Here’s a church, shot at night. With something more than incense ascending to the heavens. (And also a funky alt edit just for fun.) 
Sitting pretty in the off season! ✨ . Something I’ve recently realized about my photos is that they are very detail-rich. I love a good minimalist photo, but for whatever reason I’m drawn to scenes with a lot of detail, and generally try to compose photos in a way that includes as much of a scene as I can. (Rather than leaving them out of the frame.) . So with that in mind, yes, this is a photo of a sign. But it’s also of shadows on the snow, and a white picket fence, and upturned picnic tables and different golden trees. I could have stood closer and captured just the sign against the sky, but the backdrop had my attention, too. There’s always more to see. . And I think that’s why I enjoy seeing photos in print so much. It’s easier to linger and notice those details on paper than it is on a tiny screen in your hand. . #accidentallywesanderson in southeastern Idaho. :) 
It’s a little too cold for water slides now. 
A corner of #NotOliversCar on 35mm film. (Also an addition to the #OliversShadowSelfies collection. Just barely though.) 
July snow, July flowers. ❄️💐 Something a little different. 🤷♂️ 
A little closer to the clouds. ☁️ Oregon, Summer 2020