The Fence, Santa Fe, NM - July 2018

I am honored to join a number of other great international photographic artists on “The Fence”, a large-scale traveling photography exhibition that reaches more than six million visitors annually through open-air exhibitions in eight cities across North America. Here at the Santa Fe, NM Railyards, selections from my Belen Cattle Auction Wet Plate portrait series were printed on vinyl for the outside exhibition.

The images are the faces of the ranchers, rustlers, cattle brand officials, veterinarians and auctioneers. They allowed me to come close and see their humanity and yes, some softness. Photographed using the late 1800s’wet plate tintype process, these handmade images take time to produce. Plates are poured, sensitized and shot while wet in the dry and dusty elements, giving me time to learn more about my subjects. The process sees the light of this desert environment in states of coffee and cream. It only sees in ultraviolet, thereby accentuating the weathered and leathered skin. The kindness, inquisitiveness or skepticism is revealed through their eyes. This is where we “meet” each other.

As part of Photo Week, the opening is Saturday, July 19th where I will be shooting demo portraits as part of the celebration.