Monthly Archives: September 2019
Horse Reflection
Back in 2016, I took a photography class that I didn’t like. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration at all to say that I hated it, to the extent that I was ready to come home two days in. But I stuck it out, partly because I’m cheap and didn’t want to lose the money I’d already paid and mostly because the Patient Spouse talked me down off that particular cliff.
One day during that class, we went to an out-of-the-way inn to photograph models. And not just models, but nude models. It was about a million kinds of weird, on top of already hating the class. But the place we went was nice, a quiet and green oasis in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. I’d always wanted to go back, and over this past Labor Day weekend, I made it back there.
It was just as quiet and green as I remembered. And this time, everyone was clothed.
And this is the scene I saw every morning.
Pojoaque, New Mexico
photographed 9.2.2019
His window was always open
If I were the parish priest, I’d keep the window open, too, to get that nice mountain air inside the church. Also, how cool is it to have a stained glass window that opens?
Nambé, New Mexico
photographed 9.1.2019
The only window low enough
My progression toward the “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico” church ended here, peering through the only window that was low enough for me to get to. The churchyard is overgrown with weeds and cactus and there’s nothing to indicate it is still an active church.
There’s something carved over there on the far wall, and traditional vigas make up the ceiling structure. But that’s about all I could get.
Other than that fantastic reflection of my camera. And my manicure, of course, because grooming is important.
Hernandez, New Mexico
photographed 9.1.2019
The southwest corner
And here’s a closer view of the church from the “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico” photograph. Here’s what I had to say about visiting this place.
Hernandez, New Mexico
photographed 9.1.2019
Ansel’s view (more or less)
Hernandez, New Mexico:if you’ve heard of it all, it’s likely to be from the title of Ansel Adams’s famous photograph “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico.” He made that photo in early November 1941, and since then the trees have gotten taller and there are more buildings and (I assume) 78 years of more crosses in the cemetery.
But this is the place. This is nearly his view – he was further back and higher up, along the road. But from there, you can’t even see the church at all any more.
“This is sort of a Holy Grail deal for you, isn’t it?” said the Patient Spouse as I nodded, wordlessly.
Hernandez, New Mexico
photographed 9.1.2019
PS: Also, yes, Adams’s photo has its own Wikipedia page. So there’s that.
PPS: The church had a flat roof in 1941; a carved wooden sign at the front door noting a renovation in the 1960s leads us to believe the current gable roof was added then.
One Day | One Image 