13-JAN-2014
No drinking, no eating, Carrizozo, New Mexico, 2014
This restaurant has shut down. It’s doors are locked, their windows boarded up. Water left its mark on its façade, while a long crack runs through words that once proudly offered air conditioning. There has not been a drink or meal served here in quite a while, in spite of the signs over the twin doors. Yet the territorial architecture of this place speaks of the nature of New Mexico itself. Its portico creates a frame within a frame for my image, and the warmth of the evening light softens the harsh realities that stand before us.
13-JAN-2014
Shadow at sunset, Carrizozo, New Mexico, 2014
It is seldom that a photographer has an entire town to himself. But such was the case here, at least for the moment. I stood in the middle of Carrizozo’s main street as the setting sun elongated my own shadow, and made this image of myself stretching along blocks devoid of people, cars, or signs of life itself. This image speaks silently of a place that has seen better times.
13-JAN-2014
Closed, Carrizozo, New Mexico, 2014
The warmth of a setting sun contrasts to the grim evidence presented by still another of Carrizozo’s shuttered restaurants. This image conveys a sad irony – the beer is “cold,” the chili is “ho-made,” and there is a help wanted sign tucked in front of the window shade. Yet there is also a “closed” sign in that window, and a “for sale” sign behind this restaurant. My own shadow adds a punctuation point to this image – we were looking for a place to have dinner, but it would not be found here.
13-JAN-2014
Riding the weeds, Carrizozo, New Mexico, 2014
As I walked along the length of Carrizozo’s main street, I encountered this rusting whimsical cowboy upon a horse trotting through knee high weeds bordering a vacant lot next to a restaurant known as “Eat and Drink.” The restaurant, like so much of this town, was out of business. This two dimensional sculpture is a work of public art, no doubt originally created to encourage tourists to stop and enjoy the flavor of the “Old West.” Yet the weeds, restaurant, and empty lot symbolize an all too familiar scenario along the rural back roads of the Southwest. There must be a very good reason for tourists to come to a place, and that reason has yet to appear here.
13-JAN-2014
Moonrise, Carrizozo, New Mexico, 2014
Two US highways cross each other on the outskirts of Carrizozo. As the moon came up, I stood alongside of one of them, and made this image. It evokes a sense of lonely, empty spaces – the lights of an oncoming car in the distance top the crest of a distant hill, while the metal guardrail draws it towards us. In the background, a smattering of telephone poles and two huge parked trucks are placed against a distant hill. It is a harsh land. Highways such as these may speed people from place to another, but in the process they often will bypass and isolate the small communities along the way.
14-JAN-2014
The music has ended, Tularosa, New Mexico, 2014
Tularosa dates back to the Civil War era. I discovered the ruins of what I had thought was an old dry goods store along the main street of its historic district. After posting this image, a viewer added valuable additional context. He remembers it as a pickle packing warehouse, and later a place where local bands used to practice. But as the building fell apart, the music ended. The adobe walls surround an empty lot, filled with grasses and trees. Using a wideangle focal length, I placed the lot and the ruins within the surviving framework of the old facade. Its signage still survives as a ghostly remnant of the past.
14-JAN-2014
Vanished grocery, Tularosa, New Mexico, 2014
Layers of signage tell the story of a grocery store that once occupied this building in Tularosa’s historic district. The figures of a farmer and a shopper symbolize the nature of the business, while the overlapping typography expresses the passage of time itself. The soft colors seem to gradually fade into the brick wall.
14-JAN-2014
The shop at the corner, Tularosa, New Mexico, 2014
A mismatched chair and table from different eras are the only occupants of this sun-drenched shop occupying the corner of one of Tularosa’s historic buildings. This image asks questions of its viewers: does the lack of furnishings mean the store is empty and for sale? Or does someone with minimal needs still use this space for business? In either case, the relationship of the furniture to the space is incongruous, and evokes a sense of the past, rather than the present.
14-JAN-2014
Café, Tularosa, New Mexico, 2014
By framing only the point of an arrow and the name of the establishment, I abstract this image down its colorful essence. The arrow points to the word “Café,” which can only mean that we are being directed to the entrance of a café which is somewhere to the right. Yet there is no door visible, only the ephemeral shadow of a tree. The vivid orange and yellow wall incongruously emphasizes the mysteries within this image.
14-JAN-2014
Dunes, White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, 2014
Rising from the heart of a mountain-ringed valley known as the Tularosa Basin is one of the world’s great natural wonders – the glistening dunes of the Whites Sands National Monument. I made this image of them at sunset, anchoring the image with two golden crowns of desert grasses. At this time of day, the interplay of light and shadow on the dunes is constantly changing as the sun drops below the mountains surrounding the Tularosa Basin.
14-JAN-2014
Survivors, White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, 2014
Only a few species of plants grow rapidly enough to survive burial in the shifting dunes driven by strong southwest winds. In this image, I pair two such survivors --a bush resembling a mass of snakes, and knee high desert grass. The setting sun illuminates both in warm light.
14-JAN-2014
Farewell, White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, 2014
These dunes, made of gypsum, cover over 275 square miles of desert. A circular drive of packed sand leads visitors on an eight-mile loop. Many of those visitors are photographers – the light on the dunes, particularly at sunset, is magical. I made this image of two photographers on the crest of a dune. The sun has left the scene, and they bid each other farewell.
