Photo of the Day | April 5, 2019
INSPIRATIONAL PHOTO OF THE DAY
Photographer’s Notes: My “Santa Rosalia Church I, Moquino, New Mexico” photograph is from my Adobe Church Project. This project is a visual narrative of cultural preservation in the great tradition of documentary/fine art photography exemplified in the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, Edward Weston, Edward Curtis, and William Christenberry. Christenberry’s work is especially important to me. It captures the fragility of the world he observed. It was Eudora Welty who wrote, “Place is my source of knowledge. It tells me important things.” These artists focused on specific places, and rendered them iconic. Like them, place is the primary theme in my work. My passion for place developed from my educational background in the social sciences, especially anthropology and history. In New Mexico, there are few places more special and unique than its adobe churches – especially those still overlaid in the traditional manner with either mud and straw or lime plaster — which are quickly disappearing from the landscape. These “traditional” churches are the focus of my project. They are monuments to the Native American and Hispanic civilizations that first settled New Mexico. They function as the metaphoric spine that binds the people of New Mexico to their religion, rituals, traditions, and culture. For these reasons alone, they should continue to be preserved in the long-established, time-honored ways. Social, religious, economic, cultural, political, and natural forces all threaten these sacred buildings so deeply rooted in New Mexico’s past. Tragically, too many traditional churches have been replaced, fallen into disrepair, or been plastered over with modern building materials. While the social scientist in me appreciates the cultural alienation that attends modernization, the resulting neglect of these churches signals a growing disconnect between parishioners, their churches and their traditions.
Photo By John Benigno on FisheyeConnect.com
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3 thoughts on “Photo of the Day | April 5, 2019”
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Love this photograph. I too started a church project here in Bermuda. I haven’t finished, but hope too one day.
What an amazing surprise to open my e-mail to see that my photograph was selected as the feature photo of the day. Thank you very much. John
Many thanks, Brendon. Like you, I hope to finish my project one day, and even publish a book. I wish New Mexico was closer to the East Coast where I live so I could work on it more often.