Festival

An Honored Request

Not too long ago I received an invitation to provide some prints of my images to the University of New Mexico Hospitals Child Psychiatric Services. It was a simple enough invitation: provide 4 prints, on a somewhat quarterly basis, that represents the population this hospital unit serves (New Mexico youth and families). The goal is to hang images in the conference room that is used to hold meetings with the families of patients.

Ultimately I chose the 4 following images and I thought I would share them here. The prints have been framed and delivered but I have not yet seen the final installation as that is in the hands of the physical services of the hospital.

All of the images were printed at 11 x 14 sizing on a 16 x 20 inch matt and frame. I look forward to being able to see them installed and will hopefully post a picture of their final presentation in the future. In the meantime I hope you enjoy them!

Stay tuned for future installations as well. This is an ongoing effort.

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“Dancing Cowboys of Pie Town”

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“Indian Finals Rodeo Cowboys”

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“El Caballo y La Tradicion”

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“La Muerta” y Las Flores”

Posted by Brian Miller in Creativity, Culture, Festivals, Nuevo Mexico, Tierra Encantada

Sketches: The Cheesy Grin

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Revelers and a vendor interact, if only non-verbally, after the Dia de los Muertos Parade in Albuquerque, New Mexico, November 2012

Posted by Brian Miller in Culture, Festivals, Nuevo Mexico, Sketches, Tierra Encantada

Sketches: Dancing Cowboys

120908-243A couple of Catron County cowboys horse around during the annual Pie Town Festival in Pie Town, New Mexico

Posted by Brian Miller in Festivals, Nuevo Mexico, Sketches, Tierra Encantada

Dia de los Muertos 2011 (Part 1)

Each November, in the South Valley of Albuquerque, New Mexico the city gathers to remember the dead in the annual Muertos y Marigolds Dia de los Muertos Parade. I’d attended this for the past 3 years, photographing it each time. It is, quite honestly, one of the best photo-ops in the city and cameras are out in full force.

I don’t know what other Dia de los Muertos festivals are like. This is the only one I’ve been to. But I have a feeling this festival is uniquely Burque!

Lately I’ve been working up the courage to begin a rather large project. Inspired by Stuart Sipahigil’s encouragement to shoot “Close to Home” and constrained (travel-wise) by a growing and young family, I began to turn my photographic eye toward telling the story of my adopted state, New Mexico. And so, with each thing I photograph for this project, I am trying to bring the viewer into the image; trying to give the viewer a feel for what it is like to be there.

So I went to the parade this year with some idea of what I wanted to capture. I felt I had a pretty good series of portraits and ghoulish images from years past, so I wanted to give some sense of the interaction of the crowd with the parade as well as give a sense of the crowded multicultural spectacle-you know, the Indo-Hispano-Anglo-grow local-anti-establishment-low rider-marching band-school group-gender/sexual orientation equality-gang-bicycle-eclectic artist community all out celebrating the departed, calaveras, marigolds, and candy.

I worked the participants and the crowd a bit at the beginning. The light was pretty but threatening to go behind some clouds and the anticipation of the parade, the largest yet that I’ve seen, made for some harried photographing. I was having some trouble getting into the zone. After the Aztec Dancers made their customary blessing (this is the same group that last week blessed El Kookooee before he met his fiery fate) the parade began in earnest.

Check back in a couple days for the continuation of this little story. In the next post I will share some of the shots I am most happy with this year. They were a little surprising for me and I hope you will like them.

Posted by Brian Miller in Festivals, Nuevo Mexico, Tierra Encantada

El Kookooee Se Quema (El Kookooee Burns)

Each year, on the last Sunday in October, the Mexican Bogeyman of El Kookooee is burned in effigy in the South Valley of Albuquerque, New Mexico. I’d never been to this event, or it’s bigger cousin, the Burning of Zozobra 50 miles north in Santa Fe, and so I thought I might go. I arrived early to get a feel for the environment and try to get a sense of what was going to happen. I’ve felt driven and called, both, to document and tell stories of this enchanted land where I live and although Daniel Milnor has also embarked on his journey to tell the story of New Mexico, I can’t help but tell my own vision of this place.

Each year the effigy is designed by a middle school student and then the design is reproduced giant size into El Kookooee, the Bogeyman. The burning of El Kookooee culminates the Festival de Otoño in this Latino neighborhood and is intended to help maintain the cultural heritage of Hispanics in the area. The effigy is stuffed with your fears and worries, written on slips of paper, to symbolize ending and rebirth.

As the day marched toward its inevitable conclusion and the crowds began to gather on the South Valley Baseball Fields the giant statue of El Kookooee was consecrated by Aztec Dancers, a belly dancer or two, and eventually by fire dancers.

The crowd took on a festival feeling as families arrived, set up picnic chairs and coolers, and children ran around and played. Folks arrived by car, by scooter, by foot, on horseback, and four wheeler.

Eventually night set in and the anticipation of the crowd was raised along with the volume on the PA system. To the beats of “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash, “Burning Down the House” by the Talking Heads, and the cries of “burn it! burn it! burn it” from the crowd, the Fire Dancers took over the attention of the onlookers.

Eventually the Fire Dancers earned their due and El Kookooee took the first steps in achieving his purpose as flames quickly licked their way up his right leg and engulfed him to the approving roar of the crowd.

Not long after, the people grew silent as people often will when faced with a cold dark night and a strong contained fire.

Whether lost in reflecting or filming the thing going up, not many could take their eyes from the burning bogeyman.

And eventually he lifted everyone’s fears and worries into another winter’s night.

Posted by Brian Miller in Festivals, Nuevo Mexico, Tierra Encantada

Picture Package (Balloon Fiesta)

As some of you may have notice I’ve taken a turn toward documentary photography as of late. I really like individual photographs and their power, but there is something in trying to tell a story in a series of images that really captures my creative imagination-and challenges me to no end!

I that vein I’ve really been captured by the idea of “Picture Packages”, the idea that Daniel Milnor (aka Smogranch) put forth in this post. Basically, he tries to capture a short series of images that can stand on their own as well as tell a story as a group. Also inspired by Daniel’s willingness to make the process of his latest project (New Mexico) open and transparent by posting his images, thoughts, audio and video on tumblr, I thought I might share my latest efforts at creating a series. Below is a series of images I shot at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta yesterday (Sunday) morning.

I went into the Balloon Fiesta Park with a set of ideas that I wanted to capture and that really drove my intention. Along the way I discovered some other opportunities that presented themselves and fit well into my idea. Still other pictures seemed to fit in as I was looking through the day’s images later in the evening. I’ve more to shoot and more to share to make this story more complete, but I’m really happy with the results. I hope you like the images as well.

 

Posted by Brian Miller in Monochrome, Nuevo Mexico, Picture Package, Tierra Encantada