14-JUL-2005
Transformation, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2005
Graffiti is, in itself, a layer of meaning superimposed on something else. I use horizontally progressive layers in this image to portray the transformation of an abandoned freight train into a work of contemporary art. This image reads from right to left – beginning with a layer focusing on a partially painted caboose, then moving to a middle layer of an unpainted portion of that caboose, and then culminating the most expressive layer at left – a fully painted freight car, featuring an energetic stick figure that seems to be dancing in a swirl of arrows and circles. To me, these progressive layers symbolize the fading of the railroad era -- a 19th century transportation medium with its grimly painted steel siding, forever transformed into a 21st century form of urban story telling.
16-JUL-2005
Graves in the weeds, Fairview Cemetery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2005
These graves, awash in a sea of golden weeds, express what happens when generations expire and leave their dead to the ravages of time. I anchor this haunting wideangle image with a foreground layer of weeds, broken only by the isolated, tilted tombstone at right. A long shadow leads through the weeds to the stone -- the only spot of shade in the frame. The middle layer is the fenced enclosure – the subject of the image. The fence incongruously protects a gravesite that lies utterly forgotten and buried in the weeds. Meanwhile, the background layer shows a vulnerable fringe of green, soon to join the sea of gold that envelopes these forgotten graves.
16-JUL-2005
Chili Ristra and Lilliums, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2005
I arranged the three layers of this image along a diagonal axis, starting with the unformed blossom in the lower right corner, representing a life yet to be experienced. A second layer evolves directly above it, as a plant explodes into a brilliantly colored double bloom. Its green stems also sprout several shadowy blossoms to come, as well as fly the tattered banners of blossoms past. These Lilliums, which grow in the courtyard of the Santa Fe Museum of Fine Arts, symbolize the life cycle in itself – yet the image adds still another level of meaning as it moves to the third layer – a softly focused chili ristra (a bunch of dried red peppers). The ristra, a decorative icon of the American Southwest, is partially in shadow, hanging in the darkness, and providing contrast to the flowers in scale, color, texture, and meaning. These peppers were once alive, yet acquire their purpose in death. If not shellacked, they can still be used to bring fire to the palate, and ultimately offer a symbol of hospitality to all who shall pass under its shadow.
15-JUL-2005
The Herald, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2005
I’ve isolated a section of a primitive mural on the wall of an industrial building and photograph it as three layers to catch the imagination of my viewers. The subject layer displays an incongruously pale figure wearing a top hat, ruff, and feather. He blows on a trumpet bearing a white banner, while being shaded from the blazing sun by a foreground layer holding a real tree, beginning at far left and extending its leaves into the rays of the painted sun itself. The shadows cast by the leaves on the mural create a third layer, which welds all of these layers into one astonishing image asking the imagination where reality begins, and where it ends.
15-JUL-2005
Doorstop, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2005
A bizarrely incongruous (and perhaps unintentionally offensive) chair inviting us to sit in the lap of Native American, also acts as a door stop for an art gallery. I use the chair as a subject layer, and play it against the context layer of the gallery’s dark interior, replete with Indian rugs, wall hangings, and even a headdress. The image questions how we perceive art itself – in this case, is it expression or commercial caricature, or both?
16-JUL-2005
Mural, Santa Fe Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico
This surrealistic mural, symbolizing sacrifice and the bounty of nature, makes a strong subject layer because of its brilliant color and exaggerated forms. It is located in the Santa Fe Museum of Fine Arts central courtyard, which is planted with a number of old trees. I choose this tree as my context layer because of the angle of its main branch. It matches the angle of the raised arm of the mural’s central figure. I found a camera position where I could align that branch just behind the figure, and at the same time place it into the deepest indentation of the wooden frame that overhangs the mural. The wooden frame and tree limb are both products of nature, while the theme of the mural relates to nature. It is not just a matter of creating a clever graphic juxtaposition of layers here. I am attempting to use these layers to create unity out of both man made and natural forms.
15-JUL-2005
Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Between 1821 and 1880, the Santa Fe Trail connected Missouri with New Mexico, carrying covered wagons, stagecoaches, gold seekers, trappers and emigrants across the heart of the Old West. It was put out of business with the coming of the railroad to Santa Fe in 1880. Yet thousands still trace the trail as a historical experience, and this is what they pass as they enter the last few hundred yards of its route as it winds its way into the heart of Santa Fe: art galleries selling romanticized sculptures of Native Americans. I made this image in the early morning, using this sculpture as my foreground subject layer. But the reason I made this picture was the middleground context layer – the seven diagonal shadows cast by the protruding roof beams of a gallery building. They rhythmically carry the eye across the frame to the sculpture, and I use them as metaphorical drumbeats that accompany the buffalo skull hunting ritual being performed by this figure. A third layer comprises the background, a tree incongruously rising between two stucco walls. It is a symbol of the natural world, a refreshing counterpoint to the man made forms that otherwise fill this image.
15-JUL-2005
Antique Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2005
An ornately carved wooden door and two religious sculptures greet antique browsers at the entrance to this Santa Fe gallery. I moved my camera position to use the door as softly focused foreground context, and at the same time make one of the sculptures appear to be hiding behind it. Those figures make up the middleground subject layer. They stand before a wall of huge rocks, which add a richly colored background layer to the image. The light brown tones of door in the foreground layer complement the darker brown tones of those rocks in that background layer, just as the angle of the leaning door matches the line of the statues’ arm. All three layers work together to make this image into an experience, rather than a description.
15-JUL-2005
The Vision, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2005
I was struck by the incongruity of this mural – a surrealistic halo-wrapped Virgin Mary rising from a barren desert amidst a pile of enormous flowers. And then I saw the barred window cut into the sky of the mural. Meanwhile, that is real earth at the base of the mural, supporting a bush, incongruously growing in front of the painting. One might wonder which came first, the bush or the painting? This foreground layer provides the only reality in the image, yet it miraculously merges into the mural – the middleground subject layer -- as if it was a vision created by the Virgin Mary herself. The barred window, along with the curved sliver of sky overhead, reveals the entire mural as painted on the wall of a building, which in turn creates a background layer. It is fascinating – we can look at the building as either a structure or as a mural. In this image, these middleground and background layers can change roles, depending upon how you choose to look at them.
16-JUL-2005
Flower Forest, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2005
This small marble sculpture, decorating a garden outside of an antiques gallery, looks as if it is lurking in a forest of flowers. My close-up vantage point makes it seem incongruously large compared to the blossoms on either side of it. I use three layers and selective focusing to create this effect. The foreground context layer is the array of flowers at left, which seem to be screening the elephant from us. The middleground subject layer is the elephant itself, along with a few sharp red blossoms just behind it, which compliment the flowers at left. The softly focused yellow flowers provide additional context as a background layer.
16-JUL-2005
To Market, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2005
On summer weekends, Santa’s Fe’s central plaza is filled with Native American artists selling hand-made jewelry to crowds of tourists. I stationed myself on one corner of the plaza and watched as the artisans arrived to set up their wares. I saw this woman coming at me from a distance. She had to cross two streets to get to her selling location, and was slowly dragging a wheeled cart behind her, carrying her chair and jewelry. My telephoto lens compresses distance, allowing me to stack three distinct layers within this image. The foreground context layer is filled with a pedestrian walkway leading across the frame, while the middleground subject layer features another walk way leading toward us, along with the artisan herself, head lowered to watch each step as she makes her way in our direction. The background layer offers additional context – it is the corner of the La Fonda Hotel, a Santa Fe landmark. The early morning sun defines its distinctive architecture and coloration, and its shadowed side allows the artist plodding towards us to stand out in striking contrast. It is a demanding task for this elderly woman, and it takes every bit of her strength to make this journey to market.