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| La Favorita Dance Hall, Ranchos de Taos, NM. |
Sad to say I haven’t photographed much with a real camera this year. But for my four-night road trip to Lakes Powell and Mead in June it’s been a dry patch. My attention has been focused on what I’ve already done and what I need to do to get ready for an upcoming show, a submission to a show with an August 16 deadline and a magazine article due at the end of month. Please refer to Lakes Powell and Mead, the subjects of said article with the operating title of High and Dry.
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| Nightfall on La Loma Plaza, Taos, NM. |
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| Master of All I Survey, a shadowy figure photographs his front pasture. Casa Immel or Ranchito Sin Vacas. Your choice. |
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| A very abstract Umbrellas at Orlando's while lunching with my painter friend Damien Gonzales. |
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| Even more abstract is Swirl, the crescent glow of a solar powered light at the entrance to Casa Immel. |
So, to a too much too large extent my go-to device has been the at the ready iphone in my pocket. Or in my left hand if I’m running. That’s been five early mornings a week during this two-month run of 90-degree days. There was a time when I would have braved the 90s but the one time I tried that this summer I barely made it up the final hill to the hospital. Literally. That’s where I park for my favorite one hour out and back route. And you never know when an emergency room will come in handy.
Tuesday I was running on a different out and back route out
NM 518 in Ranchos Taos. So, I passed Paul’s Bar twice. On
the return leg I stopped for all of two minutes to photograph the long-closed
dive bar. It has been closed for the twenty years we’ve lived in Taos. An Instagram
follower commented that it’s been closed since she arrived on our shores 32 years
ago. But photographer Geraint Smith, from Wales by way of Pasadena, commented
that he and his comrades used to stock up on beer on Saturday nights at Paul’s in
1988 when Taos County was dry on the Sabbath. I know that I’m highly annoyed I
didn’t have a chance to quaff a cold one at Paul’s. I do love dive bars.
But I prattle on. Turns out that the spiffy little number above
which I call La Favorita Dance Hall was the most liked image I’ve ever posted to Instagram.
And that’s after 1,200 something posts. So, by that metric, the “best” photograph
I’ve posted was one from a smart phone while I was doing something quite unrelated
to photography. It just seems wrong.
That said, all of these pics are from the camera in my pocket.
Are you happy?
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1 comment:
As we both have found - first during pandemic times and now during project preparation - a good photographer can always find subject matter regardless of where he or she is. The field near Casa Immel self-portrait is wonderful, and the like-minded shot looking through the umbrellas or sails at various restaurants is right up my alley. 16 (?) days and counting before the deadlines for your upcoming show, and the end of the month for your magazine article. Therefore, your blog today is totally righteous and beautifully written. Who would have known that a device meant to communicate with someone would end up being such a great camera? It does seem wrong but on the other hand, cameras of any ilk have always been and will continue to be used to document a point in time. And you always manage to do that with creativity and attitude. Muchas gracias, Amigo!
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