By 1907, light—early morning, midday glare, moonlight, firelight—had become Remington’s obsession as a painter. The Dry Camp is an attempt to capture the intense light at day’s end as the setting sun scorches the land in an unreal, ruddy glow. Remington creates drama and tension in this work even though it is stripped down to its essentials, setting the man against the pitiless landscape of the dry desert plains. The man, the horses and wagon are all dissolving into the light and color of the almost featureless orange landscape. An anxious awaiting of what the outcome of the situation will bring sets a tone of disquiet that is obscured by blinding light. The figure searches for a sign of water in the bare western landscape.