Blog Archives

el martinez service

I’ve been this place a lot of times but never even gave it a second glance. So maybe I missed seeing when it was open, seeing what the local customers were doing.

Or maybe, it’s been closed so long that if I had noticed it before now it would have looked approximately like this.

(Reason 1 to go back over and over to the same place.)

Truchas, New Mexico
photographed 9.3.2024

the cloth on the cross

I don’t know if this rope was placed deliberately to echo the purple cloths that are placed on crosses during Lent, but my mind made the connection.

For whatever that is worth.

Ribero, New Mexico
photographed 8.31.24

empty pews

As it turns out, I have spent a lot of time this summer on the road, wandering around and taking photos.

This is not a complaint, because wandering around and taking photos is just about the most enjoyable thing I can imagine doing. And I know I am fortunate that it works out for me.

We found an interesting back road the other day that turned out to be an excellent option: I found this place.

Ima, New Mexico
photographed 8.30.24

waylon’s town

 

Oh, Littlefield. Poor Littlefield. The town just can’t seem to catch a break.

This is last image (for now) from the incredible trip that Don Toothaker, Chuck Doughty, and I made across a little part of Texas. It is hard to describe how much joy the three of us got from just wandering around. Sure, it was like a million degrees outside. Sure, there were some long-ass days. Sure, we probably missed as many shots as we took. But still: so many good things happened; most of them aren’t quantifiable by any traditional metric. But if you’ve ever been on a trip that was totally new adventure every hour, a trip that you were sad to see end, a trip where your group was stronger friends at the end of it all, a trip where visions of the Next Place To Go was a constant visitor, then you’ll know what I mean.

My greatest thanks to Don and to Chuck, who were great traveling companions and who were willing to make as many u-turns as we needed.

in-camera double exposure
Littlefield, Texas
photographed 8.3.2024

room with a (bad) view

For some reason this particular abandoned farmhouse had a concrete foundation and floors, unlike many that have crawl spaces below rotted wood floors.

And for that very reason, I went ahead and stepped in for a look around. I can’t explain why, but this scene has a certain weirdness about it – the view, the angles of the window and mattress, the mattress itself, the dead tree…or maybe all of it.

Additionally, there were quite a few single shoes lying about. I don’t want to know why.

Lubbock County, Texas
photographed 8.3.2024