KEVIN BUBRISKI drove cross-country to Santa Fe in 1981, fresh from a stint with the Peace Corps in Nepal. The aspiring documentary filmmaker fell in love with still photography in northern New Mexico, working as a newspaper photojournalist and pursuing his own projects before returning to Nepal, where he captured images that earned him a global reputation. The New Mexicans: 1981–83, published by Museum of New Mexico Press in November, records a portrait of a bygone era in the Land of Enchantment, where Bubriski let the famed light and landscape play backdrop to the intimacy of daily life. He reflects on a few of his favorite images from the 276-page photo book.
Indian Powwow, Penitentiary of New Mexico, Santa Fe, 1982
“I made this photograph four years after the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. This may have been the opening moments of a procession. What I remember is that everyone was let out into the general yard, and men and women were able to meet with each other and have picnics with outside visitors. There are several smiles in this picture. Events like this can give people a lot of positive energy to sustain themselves through the darker, quieter times of incarceration.”
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, 1981
“This is a good example of the journey the eye makes. There’s a lot going on, with two men on top of the camper vehicle. One of the boys in the foreground is looking up at the balloons filling the sky, and the other one looks like he’s trying to be careful where he steps. The painting on the wall of the van looks to be a hot-air balloon next to some sort of butte from Monument Valley. I’ve only been up in a balloon once. It’s beautiful to be airborne, but I think the best view is from the ground, looking up.”
Fiesta, Chimayó, 1981
“Forty years ago, the roads around the Santuario de Chimayó were rougher. The parking lots weren’t paved. I didn’t pose these two well-dressed gentlemen in front of the Santuario. I just caught them in their conversation. I love the way this photograph comes together. You can see the bell in the tower, the ladder going up, the whiteness of the ladder against the darkness of the wall, the way the tower stands against the sky, and the tree branches perfectly framing the top of the image.”