Week 8 - 2015 in Photographs

Day 50

This week is all from Taos, New Mexico. I like architectural details, and the little things which give an area a personality. In Taos, it is the adobe look (note: little of the old plaza area of Taos is real adobe), the haint blue trim, and carved trim and posts.

Day 51

I also like shop windows. Off the plaza in the Bent Street area there is a favorite mineral shop. Now and again I buy a little treasure to have around the house but most of the larger items in this store remind me I own pets and that I can be a bull in a china shop. Safest to stay outside and photograph the treasures through the windows with the morning light.

Day 52

I also like the light and shadows on the fake adobe walls. Stucco for those that live in the midwest. The Bent street shops have charm even if they are not as authentic as the pretend to be. They at least do not all sell tee-shirts with the name of the town or ski area on them.

Day 53

 The main plaza in Taos was all wooden Victorian buildings which burned to the ground in 1931. When it was rebuilt they pretended to be a lot older. Most tourists do not know the difference. When I first moved back to New Mexico one whole side of the plaza were tourist traps. The south side was an old hotel, and Oglive's had a great restaurant on the second floor of the buildings on the east side. Many a great lunch on their balcony watching tourists.

Day 54

The cheap tourist stuff made in China still dominates. This is where you get the Taos tee-shirts. They do make for interesting photos of reflections.

Day 55

But it is off the plaza toward Bent Street that most locals in the area take tourists these days. It is where I gravitate with my camera. Off the plaza is where some of the truly historic buildings are also like the Gov. Dunn house and museum.

Day 56