Uniquely New Mexico

Uniquely New Mexico: Spirits of the Old Adobes

Uniquely New Mexico: old adobes, week of many observances across cultures of visiting spirits, and especially of Day of the Dead with Albuquerque’s – so far, not commercialized – Marigold Parade, Muertos y Marigolds. Several years ago, during more than one “photographic excursion,” Tim Price and I photographed a lot of old adobes, and Laurie sketched them. Those images sat around for a while, as did some images from a couple of Marigold Parades. I don’t remember exactly when I decided to make some composites. I do remember I had a lot of fun playing. My son really likes the series, so I decided to revive a few of the images. The Gallery, Spirits of the Old Adobes, is at my portfolio site. This seemed an appropriate week to share the images.

uniquely new mexico
Surprise!

(Click to enlarge image.)

Old Cars and Sunflowers

Old Cars and Sunflowers – Icons of New Mexico

Old cars and sunflowers are each, in their own right, icons of the New Mexico landscape. Imagine my joy as a photographer when I found the two together!

old cars and sunflowers
New Mexico Icons: Old Cars and Sunflowers

Those of you who have followed this blog for some time are aware of my interest in old adobes and every now and then, in old wooden buildings. I don’t have a series of old cars (yet 🙂 ), but more sunflowers are definitely on their way.

I could not resist this image of an old car surrounded by sunflowers!

Visit Abo

Abo
Abo, Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument

Abo is one of several old Spanish Mission ruins located in Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, New Mexico. I had been to Quarai several times, but I had not been to Abo until October of 2014.

Abo
Abo, Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, New Mexico.

October is a wonderful time in New Mexico for being out and exploring and seeing new places. The light was interesting all day long and at various locations. In the morning it was bright, and there were beautiful white clouds in the sky. Later in the afternoon, the clouds became darker and we did get a very small amount of rain.

Here at Abo, although the sky appears bright, there were heavy clouds that cast dark shadows over the ruin and location, giving it at times a rather spooky feeling of “old ghosts” that must be hanging around.

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument is a place I want to revisit in the spring. In particular, I would like to photograph Abo again at a different time of day. For those of you who live in New Mexico, the entire Monument is definitely worth a day trip. For those of you visiting New Mexico at some point, a side trip to this monument would be a nice addition to your trip.

Abandoned

Abandoned
Abandoned
Abandoned
Abandoned – not adobe! – in the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico

Readers here over the years know that I have had an ongoing project recording adobe structures in New Mexico. This often includes abandoned and decaying structures, as well as some of the beautifully maintained adobe structures. Adobe is the building material one thinks of when considering the traditional construction material of Twentieth Century (and earlier) New Mexico. Those of you who read here also know that I love adobe.

Driving around New Mexico, both in rural and in urban areas, you will see a lot of accumulated “junk,” such as old cars to name but one type.

On a beautiful autumn day in the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico I was photographing a beautiful landscape. These structures were just out of the landscape scene, but I found them interesting. So I photographed them as well. Although they appeared abandoned, I will say I did not want to get much closer, just in case they were being used for something I did not want to know about. After all, this is New Mexico.

The image itself lent itself to some post processing techniques not typical for me. I hope you enjoy the image.

Show Buttons
Hide Buttons
%d bloggers like this: