Along the Pecos

Jennifer Schlesinger’s black-and-white gelatin silver prints focus randomly on close-up views of the river and its banks. Presented as single images, but also as diptychs and quadtychs, they impart a sense of long grasses blowing in a breeze, water rippling and a tree’s textured bark. Steven Miller’s sound recordings highlight birds, planes, automobiles, wind, insects, and the flow of the river itself. Together, they invite the viewer to change how they look at a river and re-imagine the water’s ever-changing effect on the surrounding landscape.

One of the staples of desert life is the presence—or scarcity—of water. Its importance can be seen across eastern New Mexico, where the Pecos River strives to quench a fragile, 926-mile riparian environment. Along the Pecos is a collage of photographs and sounds developed by photographer Jennifer Schlesinger and the late composer Steven M. Miller. The materials were recently donated to the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives, whose Photo Legacy Project collects the work of contemporary photographers.

Exhibition overview from museum website