Environmental portraiture...of a different sort

Most of you know that I published a book in 2002 titled A Place Like No Other:  people of an enchanted land (Sunstone Press, Santa Fe).

I am about to embark on another environmental portraiture project, and I did a shoot on Wednesday that, in an odd way, might be considered environmental portraiture.  The subject this time was chickens (and a rooster named Big Daddy).  The place - Casa Gallina - a wonderful set of holiday rental properties in Taos.  This is not a bed and breakfast inn, but guests can have as many eggs from owner Richard Spera's chickens as they can eat.  You cannot find fresher eggs than those found in the nests.  Richard encourages his guests to visit with the chickens and reconnect with how real food is produced.  The chickens and rooster Big Daddy have an incredible vocabulary and I had a great time on the grass, following them around, and trying to make their "portraits".  Strange, yes, but the patina, patterns, and colors of the feathers are quite incredible.

What a collar!

Try to put these puzzles together!

stained glass?

Big Daddy in all his finery

until next Monday (and the rooster crows)

DB

a passion for the image

Mural art

Humans probably began painting walls as soon as their need for food and survival had been met.  The need to create and paint is in our DNA, and that need is perhaps even more apparent today.

Here are two wonderful pieces at Warehouse 21 in Santa Fe.

I have always admired muralists and their work, whether the medium is mosaic, some sort of applied paper or fabric, or spray paint. I wanted to quickly create my own, and here is an immediate result using a camera.  It is a reflection created by the glass garage doors of the Farmers' Market and the building across the railroad tracks from it at the Rail Yard in Santa Fe.

My thanks to all who make the world a more beautiful place.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image