From Out of the Dunes

Since living here in New Mexico for the last couple of years, I have found the Yucca to be fascinating because of its human like form. This one seemed to be coming from out of the dunes as dawn broke at White Sands National Park one morning. It was barley visible when I first started to photograph that day, but as the light spread across the dunes and revealed its size, it seemed to get closer to me. I felt the need to introduce myself and take a portrait of him before I lost the beautiful soft light and the dark sky background.

Limited addition prints and a box set can be found HERE

Jesse Kruis - Native New Mexican

Jesse Kruis was the last piece of the puzzle for our kitchen renovation. He came in early one Tuesday morning to make the connections to the new sink and to hook up the new gas fire place.

He agreed to be photographed and soon after his work was done, he was standing in front of my camera. He had already filled out the sheet that told us who he was, but how much of that would transfer to the portrait? How would he define himself?

Looking at the portrait, I first look at the uniform. He is wearing a company issued shirt with his name and the logo on it that identifies him as a member. Next, we look at what he is holding, a pipe wrench, a tool that may be synonymous with plumbers. But the tool isn’t all that important in these images, instead I would again focus on the  hands. We can clearly see that like our chimney sweeps, Jesse’s hands have been used the hard work of a plumber. 

So what does this portrait tell us? Jesse is a plumber, works hard with his hands and is as friendly and comfortable with people as this portrait suggests. How does Jesse define himself?

Brother
Husband
Student
Son
New Mexican

hese are all things we don’t see in the portrait.

There is one more thing revealed in his drawing of the Zuni sun rising over the Organ Mountains that the portrait, uniform or his self defined list doesn’t tell us. The drawing identifies his place, not only as a New Mexican, but more specifically, a native of Las Cruces. 

The Chimney Sweeps

The Project

The uniform is often a signifier of how we want people to perceive us. What we wear is often just a public persona of a greater personality. In my new ongoing series I use portraiture to connect the persona with the person. 

In this series the term “uniform”is explored as a contronym. I photograph my subjects in their uniform, thereby identifying themselves as an individual of an organization or cultural group. The next step is to ask them to list who they are. The list deconstructs the uniform narrative and exposes the common bonds between us, blurring the lines between our public personas and revealing the uniformity of the human experience. 

My First Subjects

My first subjects in the project were a two men that came to my house to clean my chimney. Ricardo and Cristhian Hernandez were unlike the chimney sweeps in the movie Mary Poppins, they were not dressed in all black or top hats nor did they do any singing and dancing on our roof, Their uniforms were hoodies and jeans, no different than the way most of us hang out and many of us do our work. 

The Clues

Without the obvious dress clues, how do we determine what they are. The wire brushes each of the men hold tell us they are scrubbing something, something big. These brushes are used in the chimney to loosen the dirt and soot. In this case it’s not the dress or the tools the men use that identify what they do, instead it’s the hands that give it away. Some of the soot that is loosen and cleaned out of the chimney ends up in the cracks and lines of their hands revealing the dirty work and hard job they do.

Who Are They?

But these images are only telling us the what, not who. Although Ricardo did not reveal anything else about himself, he seemed friendly and cooperative to sit for my art project. Cristhian divulges a bit more about himself, he writes:

Cristhian Hernandez
Son
Brother
Likes Soccer
Cleans Chimenys
Cleans Dryer Vents

The Reward

The tools and the soot may be signifiers of what they do, but not who they are. Instead of being “the chimney guys”, I got a chance to meet them and find out a little more about them.

I feel rewarded for my effort.

On Becoming An Artist

When I arrived in Las Cruces 15 months ago, I partnered with the Southwest Environmental Center to produced two photographic exhibitions of other artists works. That was the plan, to create an environment for photographers to exhibit. While producing these exhibits, I did not include any of my own work. In fact, over recent years I have not exhibited often or widely. 

But that has begun to change. Currently, I am exhibiting my work in the exhibit FIRE & ICE at the Unsettled Gallery here in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The gallery is small, but a really charming place to exhibit with its whitewashed adobe walls and wooden vigas across the ceiling. I got the opportunity to pitch an idea to have my photographs of Death Valley (FIRE) and my friend Alex Tullis’s work of Iceland (ICE) shown In the gallery. Each of us has one of the two major rooms in the gallery. Together the exhibit is a contrast in landscapes, colors, themes and styles.

I was recently pleased to hear that I have been awarded a solo exhibition in another gallery here in Las Cruces. The work is more current than the Death Valley work, and I believe a next creative step compared to the current show, FIRE & ICE.

So now I have to confront how I am going to present myself as an artist. How do I market my work, how do I find a wider audience for the work I do. There are a number of ways to go; I know many photographers that go to local fairs every week and they do O.K. I know some photographers are in galleries, but they only sell occasionally. And we have all heard of people in New York, L.A., or Santa Fe that have sold prints for thousands of dollars. I have a e-commerce web site, so with a lot of marketing online sales is a possibility. There isn’t one answer that fits all that I want to accomplish.

Since my latest series has not yet been shown, in fact not even completed, I have to make a decision on how I will proceed to present, market, and show my work. This requires a road map, a plan to get from where I am now to where I want to be a year or two down the road. 

So right now I am beginning to lean in one direction and with a little more consideration over the next few weeks, I will make the final decision and tell you why I chose that direction. 

Stay tuned!

My New Photo Lab

How do I go about finding a photo lab, I’ve lost the one I had. From that lab I could often get exhibition prints within a day. Recently they consolidated their facilities in other states and now they are not able to deliver prints for 7-10 days - if I’m lucky. With several upcoming exhibitions I needed to find a reliable, high quality, affordable lab to get large archival pigment prints in a reasonable time frame.

While doing an internet search I came across Nations Photo Lab, located in Hunt Valley, Maryland. As a test, I ordered three prints. Since I am living in Las Cruces, New Mexico, I was a bit concerned about their ability to get the images printed and sent back to me quickly. 

I am happy (very happy) to report that my test went well. I uploaded three 16” x 20” inch images on Sunday afternoon and on Wednesday they began their almost 2000 mile trip across the country. I received them on Saturday afternoon in a flat, well protected box. 

Excitedly I opened the flat box and found the prints were protected against dents and dings by sandwiching them between two more layers of corrugated cardboard. Inside these layers of cardboard was a clear envelope containing the photographs. When I opened the envelope and spread the photographs out, I was floored!

They were BEAUTIFUL!

Nations Photo Lab only prints from digital files, they do not print from, or process negatives. They have a variety of sizes at reasonable cost, and as I indicated before, they have quick turnaround. 

I was so impressed by the quality, response, and price that I immediately uploaded 15 more images to print for my next exhibition in April of 2020. 

I am looking forward to getting these images back next week.

Nations Photo Lab
1130 Pepper Road
Hunt Valley , MD 21031

www.nationalphotolab.com

PH: 888-507-5755

Photographing From the Levee in Las Cruces, New Mexico

It was a chilly day of about 50 degrees with a breeze that made it feel colder. When you look behind me, you see the Organ Mountains to the east, and the city of Las Cruces to the west.

Finally at the end we take a look at what I captured on this day.

Thanks for watching.