LAURIE ZUCKERMAN PHOTOGRAPHS NEW MEXICAN CHURCHES, CEMETERIES, AND ROADSIDE SHRINES DURING 2009 SPRING BREAK TRIP

Laurie Zuckerman just returned from this year's Spring Break adventure to New Mexico to photograph the St. Augustine Church at the Isleta Pueblo, the Salinas Pueblo Mission National Monument, and a host of remote cemeteries and churches in the Spanish Land Grant communities southeast of Albuquerque. It is always a treat to find beautiful statuary in the churches, so I am posting a few of the best pieces from the Isleta Pueblo. Below is a shot from the large shrine on the church plaza. St. Augustine was established in 1613. It is one of the oldest mission churches in the United States.

Discovered the Salinas Pueblo Mission ruins on the internet, having never heard about them prior. All three of the distinct sites were stunning, my favorite was the Quarai Ruins. The scale of this early 17th century Spanish Franciscan Church was magnificent. At least four stories high.


One of my favorite churches along our route was built in 1829 in the village of Manzano. I received special access to the church by the metalsmith who had designed the gates to the cemetery surrounding the church.


As always, the condition of the cemeteries is one of neglect, vandalism, and deterioration. I have been documenting the Hispanic cemeteries of New Mexico and Southern Colorado for at least six years now, in pursuit of publishing a photography book. I found some wonderful folk art graves on this journey to the eastside of the Manzano Mountains. Here are two out of the hundreds of pictures I am sorting through this week.