# 5842-45 / civilized ku•New Mexico ~ local culture

Sentuario de Chimayo ~ (embiggenable) •iPhone

(embiggenable) •iPhone

ESPECIALLY SO, ONCE YOU ARE OUT IN THE COUNTRYSIDE of New Mexico, religious (Spainish Catholic with a SW indigenous overlay) edifices /iconography is everywhere apparent. It seems that the Spainish missionaries spread the word with a high degree of efficiency.

The diorama pictured in the triptych, which I have presented larger in order to see the details, depicts heaven, purgatory (people milling about killing time), and hell. Hell is at the very bottom beneath a sheet of glass. Those residents ain't going no where, unlike those in purgatory who are below a cloud which they will pass through into heaven when they have served their time.

(embiggenable) • iPhone

# 5832-36 / civilized ku•picture windows ~ from the inside, out

(embiggenable) • iPhone

(embiggenable) • iPhone

NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO THERE IS ALWAYS A view of a window with a view of something. I call the pictures I make thereof, picture windows.

While my "standard" picture making M.O.-creating an interesting arrangement of visual elements across the 2D printed field of view-is always at the the fore when making such pictures, there is also a metophoric device in play as well. That is, an impression of the world outside is being made from an inside place which is akin to forming an impression, using the human visual apparatus, of the world outside of one's inside place, aka: one's inner self.

If I were so inclined (which I am most definitely not) to spew Academic Lunatic Fringe art speak folderol, I could delve down into the rabbit hole of self-psycho-analytical flapdoodle in an attempt to aggrandize / embellish my creative genius. However, I'll be content to let my pictures speak for themselves, so to speak.

# 5822-26 / landscape•civilized ku ~ good stuff

New Mexico ~(embiggenable) • iPhone

New Mexico ~(embiggenable) • iPhone

New Mexico ~(embiggenable) • iPhone

New Mexico ~(embiggenable) • iPhone

Arizona ~(embiggenable) • iPhone

NEW MEXICO / ARIZONA ARE PLACES APART FROM THE REST OF THE USA. Both from the culture and typographic points of view.

Although, from the pov of the recent presidental election they are both Blue States, albeit that Arizona was a swing state. Good stuff.

That written, from the picture making pov they are both target rich environments.

5816-21 / the new snapshot•civilized ku•new mexico ~ off the beaten track

IN A COMMENT LEFT BY MIKE (no link provided), re: my recent travels, he wrote:

"...It's clear to me you stuck to the tourist locations and didn't experience much off the beaten track."

my response: In fact, when the wife and I travel, we never "stick to the tourist locations" (unless you count museums as such). That does not mean, as an example, we do not visit the Eiffel Tower when in Paris, it means we spend most of our time in Paris roaming / exploring "off the beaten track". We are most interested in experiencing "local" color and culture. And to be honest, avoiding the tourist crowds. All of which is also why-except for an in-transit overnight-we never stay in hotels.

That written, in today's entry are some-there many more-of the many examples of local color and culture the wife and I experienced on our recent travel. All of them are pictures made well off the beaten track.

Re: Mike's comment also included the rather snarky suggestion that:

"Maybe you should stay home in New York in the future since your comments about California and the West are so negative in tone."

To be perfectly clear, I have no problem with Mike's comment. However, I do find it odd that he left the comment on an entry in which I wrote:

"...after a few days-pleasant days to be sure-of wandering around the place..." and "...enjoying the sights, especially the many museums which have a very SouthWest indigenous-Native American / early Spainish-art bent. Or, in other words, it don't suck by any means."

That written, in a future entry I will address the part about my recent travel entries being "negative in tone". Not to contravene his point, but rather to explain my koyaanisqatsi-like additude toward much of life in these United States.