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Art Place
Here’s a broader view of an earlier post. The illustration of the church is quite nice, particularly because that exact view isn’t possible in real life, as the church is hemmed in with a river, some mountains, a highway, and parking lots. I guess this is a God’s eye view?
Chimayó, New Mexico
photographed 12.24.2015
The Pilgrim
Someone approaching the church, perhaps to worship, perhaps to seek healing from the holy dirt that’s in a small room off the main chapel.
I saw two women and a small boy putting small amounts of the dirt into plastic bags they’d brought with them; they were using an orange scoop and speaking softly, with reverence; I felt like (and in fact, was) an intruder and didn’t stay. A brochure in a rack beside the dirt warned visitors to neither eat the dirt nor steep and drink it.
El Santuario de Chimayó
Chimayó, New Mexico
photographed 12.25.2015
Also – those bags on the wall are similar to the farolitos in Santa Fe, only these are plastic bags with electric lights inside.
Left in Hopes
Because of its reputation as a healing site, many of the faithful visit the church at Chimayó. The churchyard has many small shrines, each one festooned with items that have been left in hope of a miracle.
El Santuario de Chimayó
Chimayó, New Mexico
Spring gets a royal welcome
I spent a week in New Mexico last spring. While I was busy making photos, the seasons were turning. I didn’t notice.
That is, I didn’t notice until the other day, when I was looking back through my images. Here’s a tree from the first day I was there – no leaves at all.
This image was made three days later, and the trees are just starting to bud.
I like the way this images blends the seasons in a typically New Mexican way – today’s newly budded trees sharing the space with ristras of last fall’s red chile crop.
Chimayó, New Mexico
photographed 3.24.2015
How saints stay warm
Of course they’d need a warm scarf to ward off the cold. I just never thought about it before.
Chimayó, New Mexico
photographed 3.24.2015
One Day | One Image 