2004 Interview- Introduction

There’s no shortage of material on the web about Leonard Knight and Salvation Mountain. There’s even an anti- Salvation Mountain website by one of Leonard’s disgruntled Slab City neighbors. Leonard makes himself very accessible to any photographers or media people that approach him, whether they’re amateur or professional- he’s probably one of the most photographed artists in history.I photographed and “interviewed” Leonard nearly two years ago, but have been lazy about doing anything with the work. For the most part there’s nothing here that cannot be found elsewhere, either in print or on the web. Leonard is nothing if not consistent- it may seem like parts of this have been lifted from other articles you’ve seen, but they’re not- it’s a verbatim transcription of the conversation I taped. I’m putting up a website now because, for one thing, I’ve never done one before and I want to see how difficult it is; but also because I told Leonard I would.You’ll never meet a nicer, gentler soul than Leonard- there’s nothing wild-eyed or scary about him. There’s no bohemian artifice or artistic temperament. He’s very sincere about getting his message of God’s love out to the world, and that’s what Salvation Mountain is all about. Whatever one may think of his religious beliefs, his accomplishment is undeniably remarkable.Here’s a web page that links you to all the other web pages about Leonard’s work:http://www.salvationmountain.us/links.html

M.J. Stevens, 1/28/06