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A triad (plus one)
Triads are good compositional elements, a rule I willfully ignored when making this photo of some sprinkler valves on the campus of the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops.
Rules are made to be broken, right?
Also, it didn’t seem right to ask someone to remove one of the valves. For one thing, I don’t know which one I would have wanted out of the picture (literally).
Santa Fe, New Mexico
photographed 7.2.2014
There have been a few changes
Maybe one of the most iconic photos of all is Ansel Adams’s Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, which was shot from the edge of the road one evening in 1941.
I stood at very nearly the same spot and saw this instead of a moonrise over a simple church and a small graveyard. In fact, from where that famous photo was shot, it’s nearly impossible to see the church and graveyard any more.
I do like the variety of items that were available at this little gas station (now out of business). Pop and cigs AND septic tank service? All in one spot? That’s pretty good selection.
Hernandez, New Mexico
photographed 7.2.2014
Negative/Positive
Of course you are aware that I have a bit of a thing about abandoned buildings, so it won’t surprise you to know that I pulled off the road for a few shots of this place.
This is just north of the thriving community of Cline’s Corners, New Mexico, which is famous for thousands of billboards letting travelers on the interstate know how fabulous Cline’s Corners is. (The only thing, to my knowledge, that is in Cline’s Corners is a 30,000 square foot “retail center” which sells the usual roadside-store stuff.)
The building I photographed used to be a roadside store, too, but wasn’t able to benefit from interstate traffic or billboards or tourists. But here’s the important difference: I didn’t make any photographs at Cline’s Corners.
somewhere along highway US 285
New Mexico
photographed 7.6.2014
Busker, Santa Fe
What in the world? A picture of a PERSON?!
I watched this guy for a long time, enjoying the range of expressions on his face. Between songs, he’d sometimes linger in the silence, and stare off across the Plaza. Once, he and the nearby balloon-seller had a short conversation. A woman with long blonde hair talked to him three or four different times; once she put some money in his jar, and twice he smiled.
And that’s all I know about the busker I watched.
on the Plaza
Santa Fe, New Mexico
photographed 7.5.2014
Half blind
Our Santa Fe Photographic Workshops group made a stop in Chimayó, to see the church and the grounds. There was a lot going on; I’ll let Wikipedia explain:
Each year some 30,000 people from all over the world make pilgrimages to the Santuario de Chimayó during Holy Week, especially on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, some seeking blessings and some in fulfillment of a vow. Walking is traditional; some pilgrims walk from as far away as Albuquerque, about 90 miles.
Many visitors to the church take a small amount of the “holy dirt”, often in hopes of a miraculous cure for themselves or someone who could not make the trip. Formerly, at least, they often ate the dirt. Now seekers of cures more commonly rub themselves with the dirt or simply keep it. The Church replaces the dirt in the pocito from the nearby hillsides, sometimes more than once a day, for a total of about 25 or 30 tons a year.
The Church takes no position on whether miracles have occurred at the Santuario.
I didn’t take any of the dirt, but did leave with quite a few photos, including this one of an outdoor shrine decorated with crosses, candles, coins, and other items left by pilgrims. The Saint and His horse are either blinded by the sun, or by the shadow – I’ll let you decide.
El Santuario de Chimayó
Chimayó, New Mexico
photographed 7.2.14
One Day | One Image 