I posted this last night, but it has not shown up on the archive. So
apologies if everyone has seen this before.
Joe
Joseph Tainter wrote:
Okay, maybe I need to go into this a bit more deeply.
Real Southwest 1:
http://www.fotocommunity.com/pc/pc/mypics/535671/display/3704299
The Navajo (this is part of their land) find beauty in even such a
place. I do too. Above the mailbox is a bit of the formation that
elsewhere is called the Painted Desert. Off in the distance is Sleeping
Ute Mountain. The road leads to it. Look at the clouds building in the
blue sky. I find beauty in the majesty of this open, isolated place,
where on one else is around.
Real Southwest 2:
http://www.fotocommunity.com/pc/pc/mypics/535671/display/3704304
A lot of people in this part of the country lead a low maintenance/low
overhead life. It is, in part, because of poverty. But not entirely. How
to explain it? It is just the way of life. Some people will work in the
city, then on weekends go back to a place that looks like this. It is
their home, and they love it. I love this area and enjoy photographing
it, including (sometimes especially) this part of it. Buildings such as
this fit (blend, really) into the landscape like buildings in few other
places I have visited.
Some years ago I talked with a woman who lives in Maryland. She had just
been to visit the Hopi Indian Reservation in northeastern Arizona. She
hadn't liked it. I asked: Why not? She couldn't quite put it into words,
but after some prompting she admitted being bothered by the fact that
they don't have front lawns. At that point I gave up trying to talk to
her. Her experience of life was just too narrow, and she couldn't grow
beyond that. I think her problem was in assuming that aspiring to an
American home, with a front lawn, would be natural for everyone. Not so.
Many people in the Southwest would not have such a home even though they
can afford it.
That said, I do realize that people who live in greener parts of the
world sometimes find the Southwest too stark and brown.
Tony Hillerman, one of our novelists, tells a story about talking to a
fellow on a bus while traveling through some empty New Mexico landscape.
The guy lived in this state but said he didn't like it. Hillerman asked
him why not. He replied that it was too isolated and stark (or something
along those lines). Hillerman's comment in his essay was that this was
precisely why he does live here. Some of us just like it.
On PDML I have posted a photo or two showing how people live in Mali.
The purpose isn't to show their poverty, but how wonderfully they cope
with a life that most of us would find difficult. (Incidentally, poverty
is relative to information. Most Malians are wonderfully happy and
unaware that they are what we would call "poor.")
The Southwest is a quirky place. If I was just visiting here, I would
want to find places such as in these photos, to experience the place
whole. When in former East Germany and the Czech Republic recently I
took several photos of once beautiful buildings that were allowed to
decay in the Soviet era. I may inflict one or two of those on the list
when I get around to it. I find beauty in their decay.
Joe
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: PESOs: The Real Southwest
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 21:03:37 -0600
From: Joseph Tainter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [email protected]
Hi Joe,
You asked for reactions so I suppose you won't mind a negative one. To
be truthful, I don't care for either one. While they may be an accurate
representation of the less beautiful, less fortunate side of the
American Southwest, I feel that I see enough ugliness in the world as it
is, that I don't need to see more.
As you obviously know there's plenty of beautiful scenes and vistas in
those areas that are uplifting. It's not that I want to close my eyes to
reality, it's just that I would rather vicariously experience those
mindblowingly beautiful slices of your trips as opposed to the less
pretty ones.
No offense intended.
Tom C.
----------
Your reaction is fine, Tom. Sorry if I inflicted some ugliness on you.
But did you read my postscript?
I enjoy both of these places. They are not conventionally beautiful, but
I find them interesting, and enjoyable thus. I am fascinated by the
mailbox. The last time I drove by that intersection was five years ago,
and I don't recall it being there.
Joe
