Krista Elrick grew up in both the United States and Guatemala and has lived in Santa Fe with her husband since 1993. In 1990, she received an MFA in photography from Arizona State University and, in 1980, a BA in cultural anthropology from Hampshire College. Her work has taken her to Europe, the Middle East, Central America and many regions in the United States where she has explored the relationship of people to their land, families and past. She has collaborated on projects with writers, folklorists and historians.
In addition to her work as a photographer, Elrick teaches photography workshops and college courses. She offers a series of lectures about the photography of the Southwest through the New Mexico Humanities Council. In her slide presentations, historical context is examined in the lives and work of photographers.
Elrick has held positions as visual arts director for the Western States Arts Federation and the Arizona Commission on the Arts. She received a fellowship with the National Endowment for the Arts in arts administration in 1989.
To see her images and read more information, visit www.KristaElrick.com.
Through the Lens, an exhibit for which The Palace of the Governors is partnering with Santa Fe Community College as their contributions to Santa Fe’s celebration of its 400th anniversary. The photographic exhibition runs at the Palace through October and at the Community College through March 9.
Since the 1850s, many of the most-recognized names in photography have focused their lenses in and on Santa Fe. Through their creative efforts, they have documented the city and its visual history, helping to create the mystique of Santa Fe. Photography has long been significant in the construction of notions of space and place, landscape and identity and, especially in Santa Fe, has helped define the geographical imagination.
Curated by Elrick and Palace of the Governors Curator of Photography, Mary Anne Redding, Through the Lens examines the history of Santa Fe through the visual record created by internationally respected photographers.
Both documentary and fine art photographers were drawn to the region’s land, its peoples, the regional architecture, and the quality of light found nowhere else in the world. The project showcases outstanding photographs that reveal the aesthetic excellence of the artists working in Santa Fe. While the images document the city, they have also been used, historically, as part of the marketing of the Santa Fe image and as a draw to other artists.
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