On Oct. 9, Santa Fe’s Center for Contemporary Arts opened The Land Mark Show, an exhibit centered on the current ecology of the Midwest through video sculpting, painting, visuals, instillations and photography. Almost all of the work omitted artist statements, which allowed viewers to shape the concepts of the works and focus more on the environmental implications themselves. More than 200 artists submitted to the exhibition and approximately 30 were selected. Ash Haywood—currently taking a semester off from SFUAD—was one of the local talents selected as part of The Land Mark Show; her work fell under the documentation umbrella of the exhibition. Haywood’s work has always had a hand in activism and been inspired by where she lives. She had been intrigued by environmental justice for some time, and moving to Santa Fe only heightened her awareness. She started attending public events regarding New Mexico’s energy industry, and diving into media advocacy with the local non-profit group New Energy Economy. During her work with New Energy Economy, Haywood learned about the lawsuit against Public Service Company of New Mexico over coal versus alternative energy. This issue, and Haywood’s desire to share information, became the main influences in her pieces for the gallery. Haywood had two pieces in The Land Mark Show. “The Flare” is the starting point for a proposed oil pipeline in Farmington, NM. In the image, vast green New Mexico hillsides are shown surrounding a gas flare. The other piece, “Stacks,” was also taken in Farmington on the land of a man named, R.G. “Squeak” Hunt, a sheepherder and butcher. His property is near the acequia that flows from PNM’s San Juan Generating Station. Hunt maintains that runoff from the acequia became contaminated and killed approximately 1,400 of his herd. The photo depicts the beautiful hills of the southwest juxtaposed with the cold harsh image of industry looming...

Students taking the Beginning Alternative Processes class taught by Chris Nail work diligently on their Cyanotype prints. Discovered in 1842, by Sir John Herschel, the Cyanotype process allowed photographers to create vibrant blue images when exposed to light. Throughout the semester, students in this class will be learning how early photographers created and printed 19th and 20th images using raw chemicals and hand coated papers....

Reid Callanan has taken 12 trips to Cuba since 2010, working as a photographer to capture the true essence of the land. For more than 50 years, Cubans have been under the strict thumb of its government while earning, at very best, $20 a month. But the Cubans Callanan has encountered have immense pride and passion about their country. Reid is one of five members of the American Society of Media Photographers that came to Tipton Hall on Sept. 9 to share their experiences of traveling and photographing in Cuba. Along with Callanan, Tony Bonanno, Jennifer Spelman, Sally Thomson and Karen Novotny have become exceptionally familiar with photographing areas and natives of Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and Trinidad. Though each of these photographers had different experiences, they had nothing but wonderful things to say about the people and their culture. All said they were welcomed into home after home with open arms and plenty of stories to go around the table. They had never seen such solace coming from people who live in incredibly substandard living conditions. Karen Novotny was invited into the home of a local priest to photograph his living conditions. “This is a relatively nice home although it is crumbling in places,” she said. “They just don’t have the materials to repaint the walls, to replaster the walls, to repair the ceiling, to replace the light bulbs you see over the bed.” The photographers also noted Cubans’ passion for music, family, art and baseball. “This photo was taken when the team from Havana won the state championship,” Tony Bonanno said. “You could barely move through the streets, there were so many people in the streets celebrating, it’s a tremendous passion in Cuba.” Yet when most are finished celebrating and practicing, they return to a home with no running water. Cuban...