A Small Herd of Horses
My favorite way to shoot – through a (usually) dirty window to capture the randomness of the way stuff accumulates when no one will thinks a photographer will drop by.
Vaughn, New Mexico
photographed 2.25.2019
Blinds, down
A pile of blinds on the floor, in the shadow of the jalousie window from yesterday.
Vaughn, New Mexico
photographed 2.25.2019
Jalousie
The big plate glass windows were on the ground, in millions of pieces. But somehow, these jalousie windows were still intact. I guess they lack the inherent appeal of someone looking to have a dramatic second throwing a rock through a window.
Vaughn, New Mexico
photographed 2.25.2019
Exhaust fan, alternate version
I passed through Vaughn two times, back in March, and both times I was in too much of a hurry to stop and look around. I did spot an especially attractive out-of-business gas station my first time through, and knew if I ever got back over there, it would be on my list of Things I Needed to Explore.
It did not disappoint.
To be clear: I have a set of rules that I follow when I’m photographing places like this. One of those rules is that I never rearrange anything to make the shot “better.” This was exactly how I found it, and I had a good laugh (out loud!) while I thought about exhaust fans.
Vaughn, New Mexico
photographed 2.25.2019
Proximate Horizon
Not only does this place have color cable TV, but it also has direct dial phones! That’s a pretty good set of amenities, and you should probably start planning a trip.
I am not certain if there are “low” and “high” seasons here. My guess is that there are not, and that most people only stop here for the night when they realize they are still a couple of hours from Albuquerque or Clovis and they just can’t stay awake long enough to make it. That makes me wonder if room rates fluctuate by the lateness of the hour rather than by the season of the year. Like, if you check in at 4:00 p.m. it’s way cheaper than if you pull in at midnight because getting all the way to that Econo Lodge on the east side of Albuquerque just isn’t gonna happen.
Vaughn, New Mexico
photographed 5.25.2019
