Road Tested : Close Ups

Found Art, Rinconada, NM.

In Road Tested the article that will be featured in the upcoming issue of Shadow and Light magazine I ask the question “Can a still life or an environmental portrait be part of a show titled Roadside Attractions?” I contend, “Yes.” As the dueling titles suggest, there’s considerable overlap between the show and the article. There wouldn't have been any of these images without a vehicle, petrol and wanderlust. And although the show and the article will be weighted toward the traditional landscape and especially the landscape of New Mexico  intimate landscapes will be included, as well.

In the vein of tighter shots and still lifes are four that could be part of the show, at least the two from the Land of Enchantment.

Found Art up top was taken on a counter-clockwise drive from Taos to Dixon, Peñasco, Placita and back to Taos on the High Road. In Rinconada I spied a scruffy corrugated building that claimed to be a gallery. It was chock full of car parts assembled and welded into artworks. The south facing wall was plywood painted flat white. On the wall was a bedspring tacked to the plywood with obvious artistic intent. The simplicity spoke to me. Later, the photograph was featured in Black and White Magazine’s Single Image issue. That led to the sale of a 24”x30” framed print to a professor at Butler University in Indianapolis. And Found Art launched a portfolio of the same name. All four of these images are part of that portfolio.

Butternut Squash, Fryeburg, Maine.

Driving home to North Conway, New Hampshire from the Fryeburg Fair in Maine we stopped at farm stand selling pumpkins and all manner of squash. It was raining lightly so the Butternut Squash in this image glistened in the soft light. It remains one of my favorite photographs of the last 20 years. Might even be a classic.

Faded Roses, Bethlehem, New Hampshire.

West of North Conway my friend John Snyder and I photographed in the quintessential New England town of Bethlehem, New Hampshire. Bethlehem is the home of a robust Orthodox Jewish population and several synagogues. John and I were photographing a clutch of abandoned dwellings on the north side of US 302 when we saw fabric roses behind a window. In the low light the roses disappeared into the dark background as had the Butternut Squash.

Turn Signal, El Prado, NM

In El Prado just north of Taos is a shopping and dining complex that boasts a terrific view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Abandoned vehicles have been artfully placed around the grassy property. I know one Santa Fe photographer who launched her career with images of the relics. Turn Signal is my take on a weathered Dodge grill.

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