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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
tree/line
I fully realize that I am not breaking any photographic ground or anything with this image – it’s what I put in the category of “any reasonable person with a camera could do this shot.” But I like it anyway: it’s a view I don’t get on the plains, the aspens hasn’t leafed out yet, and the clouds were making a good showing of cloud-ness.
Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico
photographed 5.15.2022
terminal
This was not the first time I’d stopped at this abandoned place in Santa Rosa, and I am relatively sure it wasn’t the last time, either. Santa Rosa is one of my favorite places to shoot, as it’s got a nice range of the subjects I like to capture. You know what I mean….
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 5.28.2022
white on white on white
A coffee shop, located in an old house, has a lovely aesthetic, with nearly everything a nice crisp white. It sets of their delicious, locally-roasted coffee very well.
Monomyth Coffee
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 6.11.2022
her family’s story
If I am being honest, I must admit that when another vehicle pulled off the road right after we’d stopped at this remote cemetery, it felt frustrating: I wanted the place to myself. And if I am still be honest, once I met Delfie and her husband Robert, I was ashamed for my frustration. They’d driven over from Albuquerque – 260 miles away – to put new flowers on their family’s gravesites. They were gracious, telling us stories about their ancestors and about the cemetery. Here’s Delfie gesturing toward her great-grandmother’s grave; that sort of family history-keeping is not anything my family does and our dead relatives are scattered all over the place. The idea that so many generations of her family are right there gave me a perspective that I don’t generally have.
And so, once again, the Photography Gods knew what was best for me, even if I didn’t figure it out right away.
Montoya, New Mexico
photographed 5.29.2022
One Day | One Image 