Fine Art Images from the American Southwest
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Saint Josephs church at the Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico. The sun arcs across the sky and casts shadows in a nice alignment. We spent some time chatting with the priest and caretaker, and watched the shadows resolve. I’ve enjoyed visiting the pueblo over the years. Here are a few images from previous photo treks to Laguna Pueblo. Thanks for looking. G
Flashback to 1986, Laguna Pueblo, the iconic view from Interstate 40, New Mexico. I’ve revisited Laguna Pueblo twice in the last two months. Each time reiterates the experience I had the first time I visited Laguna Pueblo in 1986. I was looking back in time, much like visitors had, over the centuries past. The view from the freeway is pretty much unchanged with the terraced housing and mission church of Saint Joseph dominated by Mount Taylor, a stratovolcano, named in 1849 after then president Zachary Taylor. In the village today, there is a “round-about”, sidewalks, some street lighting and a new administration building. The charm and friendly nature of the people I met there thirty years ago, was exemplified on these last few visits by the local priest sitting in a pew, with his bare feet resting on the earthen floor. He regaled us with many stories in the cool, slightly moist, air of the cavernous mission church. His voice rose softly, echoing around the interior, and off the walls of the building as if summoning up the ghosts from the past to bare witness to his tales. Thanks for looking. G
San Jose, (Saint Joseph) mission church was built in 1699. The church is built in the early Pueblo style of architecture, and is constructed of field stone, adobe, mortar, and plaster. The interior is adorned with Laguna Pueblo art paintings and stations of the cross. We arrived here yesterday, one of the last stops on a five day photo safari around northern New Mexico. The sun was low in the western sky and the church was shrouded in shadow. At first I blocked the sun behind the cross, that gave me a decent exposure on the building and cross, and worked with what I first had in mind. When I moved the camera slightly and pointed it directly at the sun, it gave me an under exposed image of the building and foreground cross. The resulting image was more satisfying, and also created the sun star that seemed fitting for the location and subject matter. Thanks for looking. G
Mission San José de Laguna. The church of St. Joseph, Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico. We stopped in here on a very cold morning. The sun’s warmth on our backs took the chill off, we began to thaw, which, in turn allowed us to stand a little taller. Here is a brief history of the Spanish Mission.
