The Southwest: The Land and Its People
Jul. 14—details
THE SOUTHWEST: THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE, photographs by Dick Spas, foreword by James G. Barbee, Dog Soldier Press
140 pages
$150
Taos photographer Dick Spas' new book offers a look at 50 years of his work, from his assignments as a student at the University of New Mexico to commissions from local artists to recent landscapes. He captures the spirit of the land and the people who caught his eye, bringing it all to life through the black and white images he made with large-format cameras, then printing them one by one in his darkroom.
For instance, classical guitarist Antonio Mendoza, whom Spas met while the Mexican musician played at a Taos bar, asked Spas to shoot the cover of his 1969 album. Mendoza later moved south where he entertained locals and tourists alike at Santa Fe hotels.
Spas photographed old-timer Mace McHorse, who had managed an auto garage in Taos. The local character had moved to New Mexico when it was still a territory. McHorse told Spas that when he was 14, he borrowed a rope one day and came home with someone else's calf tied to the end of it. Mace's Pa told him he needed to get out of Texas, or he wouldn't live long. McHorse ended up in Taos.
Spas was born in New York state and studied at UNM under the GI Bill when noted photographer Van Deren Coke was chairman of the photography department. Spas went to Taos to provide vacation relief for a commercial photographer friend — and ultimately never left. Taos was a small town when Spas moved there, and he lived for several years upstairs above the Harwood Foundation. He used his kitchen as his darkroom, covering the windows with black plastic and developing prints over the sink. Walking to the post office, he met many local artists whom he later photographed, many of them on commission.
Noted Navajo artist and longtime Taos resident R.C. Gorman operated a gallery on Ledoux Street, not far from Spas' darkroom, where he hosted many parties. "There wasn't much going on in Taos," Spas says. "Everybody came." Guests included author Frank Waters and landscape artist Doel Reed.
Spas met Santa Clara painter Pablita Velarde at one of Gorman's parties. He photographed her, her daughter Helen Hardin, and granddaughter Margarete Bagshaw wearing traditional dresses and jewelry.
Gorman himself posed in his gallery, in front of large abstract canvases of Navajo and Pueblo design, not with the artist's famous colorful and signature depictions of Native women.
Other commissions included female artists whose work became more critically acclaimed and valuable after their deaths. Although Taos printmaker Gene Kloss was known to be a private person, Spas photographed her in 1974 with her printing press and easel in a space that few visitors saw.
Abstract artist Bea Mandelman was overshadowed by her husband Louis Ribak. Spas photographed Ribak, dressed in black, in his studio in front of a large and boldly painted canvas. Mandelman, also in black, posed with her work at the Taos Gallery of Modern Art. She had no space of her own, Spas says — Ribak used the couple's studio while Mandelman was relegated to paint in a corner of the living room. Today her work is as well-known as her husband's.
Spas continues to work as a photographer, selling prints of photos that were published in the book, taking commissions, and making artistic photos throughout New Mexico and Arizona. His book serves as a well-documented and lovely record of half a century in the Southwest.
Dick Spas will attend a reception and book signing at 4 p.m. Friday, July 14, at Collected Works Bookstore and Coffeehouse (202 Galisteo Street, 505-988-4226; collectedworksbookstore.com).
