New Mexico 2003

The Journey Begins


I had first heard of Ghost Ranch when my mother went there for a retreat in the mid 1990's. I was intrigued by the photos she had brought back and the stories she told of an almost mythical landscape. I knew something of the American Southwest in that my family had been traveling to Arizona (specifically Tucson and Phoenix) for the better part of twenty years as part of the pathway to my father's family in Mexico.

In 2004 I decided to take a trip away from Los Angeles to rest and regroup and Ghost Ranch sounded perfect. At that time they were running a fall Writer's festival which sounded interesting and a little less self-indulgent than just goofing off for a week. I cajoled my brother into joining me and we met in Albuquerque after he flew in from the east coast.

We started driving up from Albuquerque and immediately we were taken with the landscape; as civilization falls away it's a strange mix of rock, mountains and streams.

Ghost Ranch is a few miles north of the town of Abiqui, NM. As you approach the ranch the vistas are truly stunning; mesas miles away are clearly visible due to the lack of structures and seemingly endless sky. As you turn onto the access road the Pedernal mountain, made famous by Georgia O'Keefe is clearly visible. The ranch has several hiking trails and natural landmarks such as Kitchen Mesa and Chimney Rock. Originally a working cattle ranch it is now a convocation center run by and owned by the Presbyterian Church (and still a working ranch).

See Ghost Ranch Gallery
After almost a week at Ghost Ranch my brother left to go back to Boston and I continued on to Taos Mountain for a couple of days of hiking and chilling out. Taos is supposedly a mountain with mystical properties; certainly it's majestic; rising out of the plateau like something out of a movie. There is a famous ski resort there; while it was not operational in October the hiking trails were open; I hiked all the way up to Williams Lake and an elevation of over 11,000 feet where snow was clearly visible in October.

See Taos Gallery
The next and last destination was Christ in the Desert; a Benedictine Abbey literally in the middle of nowhere accessible by driving down 13 miles of dirt road from RT 84 in Abiqui. Life at the Monastery is austere; in keeping with the surroundings. Although the accommodations have become less spartan the guest house at that time had no hot water, heat from electric radiators on the wall and no power in the rooms. Light was provided from plug in lanterns that had to be recharged each morning. The Chauma river is an easy walk away from the guest house; and at 4am you can hear the gregorian style Matins from the church. Most of the day is spent in silence; you eat with the Monks and on sunday you are allowed to speak freely; but most of the time you are in solitude and encouraged to spend time in personal reflection rather than speaking with other guests. It's definitely an experience; with the landscape surrounding you it's hard not to ponder your place in the universe.

See Christ In the Desert Gallery
I was very lucky in that during my time in New Mexico several storms moved through the state; in these situations the lighting and cloud cover can change dramatically in a few moments; I have photos of rock formations taken minutes apart that seem utterly unrecognizable.

Truly the land of enchantment.

Technical Notes

This was the first time I had used a digital SLR. My brother had bought a secondhand Fuji camera and left it with me after his return home. The lens and metering on that camera were truly amazing; despite the fact that the sensor was only two megapixels in size. The photos are actually surprisingly useable; I've blown them up to 11x14" with very little visible noise or degradation in picture quality; but cropping is obviously something that's done very judiciously. Also in the galleries you will see some early attempts at panoramas and photomosaic imagery; there are 4 panoramas (including one very obvious one). I took the plate elements despite the fact that it would be several years before Adobe perfected the joining of such imagery in Photoshop.

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