[1] The Underground Explosion Project took place at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, and Buckhorn Wash and Unaweep Canyon in Colorado.
Photographing mostly in Denver over the next 20 years (except for a stint in New York City from 1957-1958), Prather was a success in both fine art and commercial photography.
Prather's commercial clients included the Carborundum Company, the Mithun Ad Agency, and Johns Manville, and he was known to bill $1,000 per day.
In the 1950s, Prather met or established relationships with Ansel Adams, Minor White, John Morris, Edward Weston, and Beaumont Newhall.
An informal community that included Prather as well as Walter Chappell, Arnold Gasson, Syl Labrot, Nile Root, and James Milmoe formed around these events.
The deaths of his parents, the failed move to Europe, and a growing obsession with mysticism only served to exacerbate the photographer's mental and physical illnesses.
After his death, Prather's work was included in a group show of early contemporary Colorado photography at the now-defunct Gallery Sink in Denver.