THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT

Living in El Paso, Texas for your entire life and then going to school at New Mexico State University has created a big culture shock for me especially considering that people in New Mexico tend to be more southern with a hint of Mexican culture. In El Paso, Mexican culture is very predominant. Due to the fact that I commute from El Paso, I’ve gotten to see the growth in both cities and the evolution each city has taken throughout these last three years.

Flashback a semester, I found myself talking to Bruce Berman and was on a fence about whether or not to continue pursuing photography and more specifically documentary photography. Bruce mentioned all the trips we would take to document different cities and My heart sank. Being the introvert I am, I was hoping I could just take pictures of what I knew, but I knew that I had to get out of my comfort zone and just go shoot beautiful images.

As I thought it would happen, our first assignment in Mesilla Valley, New Mexico was not the greatest experience. On a rainy Thursday, I walked around and acted more as a tourist rather than a photographer. I knew instantly I needed to return so I proceeded to do that on Sunday. I took the trip with my mother and my grandparents so the quest to shoot quickly was on. I arrived at 11 in the morning and didn’t leave till about 5 in the afternoon and all I managed to do was take photos of inanimate objects and people without them realizing. Just from this first assignment, I felt as though the semester was headed for turmoil.

From that day forward, I set out to push myself to try to engage with people and I did in some instances. The one place where it highly affected me was in La Mesa, New Mexico. Once again, I returned to the location on a Sunday and noticed there was a baseball game happening when I looked to the outfield, I instantly noticed a bright red Chevy Pick-up truck and I instantly knew I wanted to talk to the owner. It took me about half an hour before I felt comfortable enough to introduce myself. Once I asked the man who owned the truck what his name was, I instantly broke down at his answer.

Three years ago, in September of 2014, one of my uncles had passed away from liver cancer and his name was Eddie. I had always pushed myself to do better for him because while he was alive, he claimed I was “chingona” or a badass. Even though three years had passed, the grief was still pretty fresh and I never really knew when I was going to be triggered by the little things.

When the owner of the red Chevy pick-up opened up his mouth, the name Eddie came out and I instantly broke down. That entire day had been difficult interns of approaching people and I was just ready to throw in the towel and leave. Eddie gave me the reassurance that in a way, my uncle was letting me know that everything would be okay and I needed to stop stressing and just let go.

One day is all it took to help switch my perspective on everything. I started to stress less and I got my assignments done on the actual day versus having to go back on the weekend. I opened up a little more to people and I knew that the class and the project would change my life.

My experience with the Small Village New Mexico project was quite a rollercoaster due to the fact that I was and still currently am an introvert. I had to push myself most of the time and most of it was followed by multiple breakdowns. It made me stronger and much more beyond that I got to see New Mexico. After three years I finally got to explore these villages and get a better instance of the place where I’ve been going to school this whole time.

All I would want people to know from my work is how agricultural New Mexico truly is. Many businesses are trying to make their way into the cities and get rid of all the farms, but the agriculture is what makes New Mexico beautiful. Every single tree, pasture and livestock adds to the character of the state. It was an amazing experience being able to shoot and document each city and I hope future generations can appreciate them.