Blog Archives
candles (plan view)
There are some things I will almost always photograph; there’s not any particular thread that connects them (as far as I can tell) (and I don’t want to frighten any of you by sharing that list) so I’ll just mention that candles at religious places are definitely included.
el santuario de Chimayó
Chimayó, New Mexico
photographed 7.2.2024
javier y la virgen
At one of the shrines at the sacred place, I saw a pair of tiny socks hanging with a rosary, a cord bracelet, a safety pin, and a medallion that says “Italy.” And sorrow – there seems to be a lot of sorrow there, too.
el santuario de Chimayó
Chimayó, New Mexico
photographed 7.2.2024
even the crosses had a graveyard
One of the things I’ve always liked to photograph when I visit the sacred site of Chimayó are all the offerings left by other visitors. This time, the fence that usually held hundreds of crosses and other mementos wasn’t even there and the other places were penitents left shoes, or prayers rolled into tiny pieces of paper, or all the crucifixes and crosses hung on any available surface stripped clean. I have not been able to find out why the things were gone, but they were and the place felt different, less personal, less emotional. And the faith and sorrow of the previous visitors seemed to have evaporated.
All I could find were some worn crosses leaning on the parking-lot side of the fence, sort of like they’d been banished to a cross-graveyard.
el santuario de Chimayó
Chimayó, New Mexico
photographed 5.15.2022
Blurry crosses of Chimayó
The walk from the parking area up to the sacred church has a chain link fence on one side where people leave crosses and other items woven into the wire. On my most recent visit, as I stood looking at the artifacts and to the building beyond, I let me eyes focus on the distance, which blurred the fence and its contents. And I made a photo.
Later, the blurry crosses and the diamonds of the fence started to make me think of women’s hats, that kind with the dotted-net veil, and this scene started to feel like what the world would look like from behind a hat veil.
I know. None of this makes any sense: welcome to the way my mind wanders around.
El santuario de Chimayó
Chimayó, New Mexico
photographed 3.16.2019
The problem with iconic places
I’ve said it before, and I stick with it: the problem with visiting iconic locations is getting a shot that’s not been made a million times before. The clouds are just about the only thing that sets this apart from everything else that looks just like it.
But, still, it was Christmas Eve, and I was in a sacred location and felt the need to document it…
El Santuario de Chimayó
Chimayó, New Mexico
photographed 12.24.2015
One Day | One Image 