In his upcoming book, Dark Beauty: Photographs of New Mexico (Hudson Hills Press), Jack Parsons opens his darkroom door to reveal many photographs not seen in the fifteen books that already showcase his work over the last twenty-five years
More brooding and willing to explore the harsh realities of New Mexico’s poverty and racism, these photographs present an honest assessment of the state, one that digs deeper than the elegant photography in his earlier books, like El Rancho de las Golondrinas and Low ’n Slow: Lowriding in New Mexico (both Museum of New Mexico Press).
In his introduction to Dark Beauty, author Frederick Turner says of this latest work: “… it reminds us of the endless process of loss that we call living …”
At 2 pm on Sunday, September 18, Parsons will be joined by Turner, author and longtime collaborator Carmella Padilla, and book designer David Skolkin for a book release party, panel discussion and book signing in the New Mexico History Museum Auditorium. Dr. Frances Levine, director of the museum, will also speak on Elsie Clews Parsons, grandmother of Jack Parsons, who dedicated the book to her.
Parsons recently bequeathed his collection of photographs to the Photo Archives at the Palace of the Governors at the New Mexico History Museum and has already begun begun transferring material to the archives, including his images of lowriders, Volkswagens, the Pankey Ranch, and musicians.
To download high-resolution images from the book, click on "Go to related images" at the bottom of this page.
Phone number for publication: 476-5200.
From Hudson Hills:
“Jack Parsons arrived in New Mexico in the summer of ’69 in a VW convertible. 1969 seems to be the magic year to have arrived in New Mexico; after all it was the summer of love and held the promise that anything was possible. Parsons’s new book, Dark Beauty: Photographs of New Mexico, reveals many photographs not included in the many books that have showcased his artwork over a long and illustrious career. These are the images he has held close to his heart as touchstones to remind himself why he is so attracted to the people and landscapes of New Mexico. Darker than many of his more well known photographs, these images show us what lies beneath the surface of what has become for many visitors a more marketed, even predictable experience of a kind of adobe Disneyland.
"It’s one thing to encounter the “Land of Enchantment” as a tourist or part-time resident. It is entirely another to commit to living here with the harsh realities of poverty and racism that lie just beneath the surface. Parsons shows us what it is to know all of that and still love this place with all its contradictions; his images show us the darkness and the hope. Indeed, as Frederick Turner writes in his introduction, “[they] remind us of the endless process of loss that we call living.’”
-–MaryAnne Redding, Curator of Photography, Photo Archives at the Palace of the Governors, New Mexico History Museum
Jack Parsons has been investigating the light, landscapes and cultures of the American Southwest for over thirty-five years. He is renowned for his elegant book photography that captures the visual heritage of the American Southwest. He has produced fifteen books, many of which have become bestsellers and classics in their fields, including the groundbreaking Santa Fe Style, by Christine Mather and Sharon Woods, which spawned the hugely successful, international genre of publications based on regional design.
Dark Beauty features over one hundred of his rarely published photographs of New Mexico, culled from his favorites shot over the last thirty-five years. From images of small towns and lonely plains, mountains, rivers, fiestas, and murals to old adobe houses, crumbling walls and dirt roads in Santa Fe, Taos, and elsewhere, it presents a very personal, elegaic vision of the state where he has made his home since the 1970s. These photographs reveal a deep understanding and reverence for a place whose rich history, unique multiculturalism, and unparalleled beauty continue to captivate residents and tourists alike.
Parsons’s other books include Santa Fe Houses, True West, Native America, The Chile Chronicles: Tales of a New Mexico Harvest, New Mexico Artists at Work; Lone Star Living: The Texas Home and Ranch Book, with Tyler Beard; Low ‘n Slow: Lowriding in New Mexico, with Carmella Padilla and Juan Estevan Arellano; and El Rancho De Las Golondrinas: Living History in New Mexico's La Cienega Valley. Also an experienced cinematographer and director, he was honored in 2006 with the New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence and Achievement in the Arts. He lives in Santa Fe.
Frederick Turner has written ten books and edited three, including Rediscovering America: John Muir in His Time and Ours; Of Chiles, Cacti, and Fighting Cocks: Notes on the American West; Beyond Geography: The Western Spirit Against the Wilderness ; The Viking Portable North American Indian Reader; 1929: A Novel of the Jazz Age; and the latest, The Go-Between: A Novel of the Kennedy Years. The recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and The Guggenheim Foundation, he lives in Santa Fe.
Publisher's contact:
Joanna Hurley 505 982-4006 jth@hurleymedia.com
