Vince Lupo's Mapping the West

You might be interested to know that I almost had one photo censored from this show at the last minute. Fortunately the curator and I talked it over and it remains part of the exhibit (though he did ask me to write up something about this photo).

This is the photo in question, taken on Hwy 64 just east of Taos in 2015:


We Do It The Old Way by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

This is what I wrote about this photo:


‘WE DO IT THE OLD WAY’

This photo was taken in February 2015 on Hwy 64, just east of Taos, New Mexico.

Many of the scenes that I photograph out West are ones that stop me in my tracks (usually of the ‘what the heck is that?!’ variety). This scene was certainly no exception.

At the time I stood in front of this scene, I regarded it as an extreme version of a ‘No Trespassing’ sign, and treaded very carefully as I took the photo.

One might ask why I even bothered to take (and now display) this photo. New Mexico is referred to as ‘The Land of Enchantment’, and certainly there are many things that are enchanting about that state and the West as a whole. However, there are some things out there that aren’t so enchanting, and this was one them.

As I write in my artist statement, “Oftentimes I’m confronted with religious symbols which serve as reminders of an adherence to tradition – but not without visible conflict.” ‘WE DO IT THE OLD WAY’ is a great example of this visible conflict.

As I am continuing to understand what the West means to me, I’m obliged to photograph not only the things that are great about the West, but also some of the things that aren’t necessarily so great.


I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
 

Creative Alliance1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Creative Alliance2 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Creative Alliance4 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Creative Alliance3 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Creative Alliance5 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Creative Alliance6 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

The show is officially open!

The reception was last night -- unfortunately I have to say that I was hoping that more people would have attended. Only about 20 people showed up, lots of leftover food, no sales. Ah well.

I did get a lot of good feedback. One person called my work 'unsettling', which I think is great. Don't want viewers to be too comfortable now, do we! The curator of this show told me that there was an art gallery owner there (forget her name at the moment), and she told him that hadn't been so affected by a black and white photography show like this one in a long time. Hmm -- think I'll have to track down that art gallery owner!

The show is up until December 7th, so if you happen to be in the Baltimore area, please stop by! FYI the Creative Alliance is open Tuesday thru Saturday, 11am-7pm.

I'm back out West December 2nd thru 14th -- the pecan harvest will be underway in Mesilla, and they should be harvesting cotton in Dell City.
 
For those of you who are unable to attend (although seeing these prints in person is nice!), here is the current show (in order of presentation):


Into the Storm by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Who Has Seen the Wind by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Curtis by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Casey, Postmaster, Tremontina NM by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


The Hand of God by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Wild Horses by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


The Lettuce Thinners by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Raimundo by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Bound for Glory #2 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Bound for Glory #3 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Day of the Dead by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


We Do It The Old Way by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
 
Michael Markey said:
Looks really good Vince.
Some of my favourite shots there .
Click to expand...

Many thanks Michael - I’m fairly pleased with the selection and presentation of the pictures. I’m sure if you asked me today to choose photos for another show, I could likely choose a whole other group. But I wanted to (hopefully!) have the images talk to each other - that the adjacent images referred to each other, and the photos generally progressed to an ending that made sense. It can’t all be doom and gloom, so that’s why I had Wagon Girls at the end, but Little Bighorn was looking over at them, maybe with a tinge of resentment? Dunno.

One word about the physical prints themselves - they were all printed via my Epson 3880 with the OEM inks, and the more recent images were printed on Epson Legacy Baryta (older ones were on Exhibition Fiber but I recently made the switch). Funny that I was considering ‘upgrading’ the 3880 to the P5000 next year, but after having seen the results from some of the more recent shots (like ‘Raimundo’ in particular), I’m almost thinking of just upgrading my paper to the Epson Legacy Platine, which is even a bit nicer than the Legacy Baryta (and of course more expensive!). I did try the Jon Cone Piezography inks a couple of years ago but personally wasn’t satisfied with the difference in image quality than from the OEM inks, so I went back to OEM. The print quality that I’m currently getting from the 3880, the OEM inks and the Lagacy Baryta is super, so really I think the hardware is going to stay as-is.

That said - and I’ve never offered this on RFF before - if anyone is in fact interested in purchasing a print, please send me a PM. I normally print 11”x16” images on 13”x19” paper and can give special pricing for RFF folks. I’d just have to figure out shipping.

Many thanks again for all your encouragement.
 
Many congrats to Vince. Got to meet him and see the prints in person today. Amazing work! And a great guy to chat with. Look forward to what he brings back from the harvests out west. Here he is in deep conversation with a couple about his adventures out west.

VinceLupo by Maryland Photos, on Flickr
 
maryland_fotos said:
Many congrats to Vince. Got to meet him and see the prints in person today. Amazing work! And a great guy to chat with. Look forward to what he brings back from the harvests out west. Here he is in deep conversation with a couple about his adventures out west.
Click to expand...

Many thanks for stopping by Subodh and for your kind words -- nice to have met you as well!

I organized an informal 'artist talk' this morning (along with delicious local coffee and donuts). Interestingly almost as many people came to this as the opening reception.

I'm heading back out on Monday for the pecan harvest in Mesilla, and cotton etc harvesting in Dell City the week after. Hopefully this trip will result in a few more photos being added to the mix!

Today was the last time I'll see the show at this gallery, as I won't be back until after the show is over.


Mapping the West Exhibit 2019 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
 
Just got back from New Mexico and Dell City, Texas and am slowly plowing through 4200 photos. I am quite certain that they are not all Pulitzer Prize winners 🙂


Philippe1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Rosie1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Jesse by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Carson3 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Branding1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Branding2 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Branding4 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Rocky Mountain Oysters1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Lettuce by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Sleeping Beauty by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Chope's by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Our Lady by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

It's likely that only a few of these will end up in the 'Mapping the West' series, so this is really more to see what exactly I have in the mix and go from there.
 
 
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