Four Pots @ 2011 Bo Mackison

Another set of photographs from Tumacacori National Historical Park. These are taken in a side building near the mission church building. This was one of the more important buildings in the complex–it was the granary. The granary held all the surplus food grown during the growing season. It was an impressive place to the native peoples who seldom had huge stockpiles of food stored and ready to eat during the leaner months of the year.

In the Sun © 2011 Bo Mackison

I was at Tumacacori twice this week. One day it was bright and sunny, and even February’s morning sun in the desert provided intense sunlight. The second day it was mostly cloudy, with patches of blue sky peeking through stormy gray clouds. It is often easier to photograph buildings in cloudy weather to avoid the deep shadows and washed out colors, so I returned thinking I would retake some of the photographs of the church building. However I quite like the sun’s highlights and the shadows on this clay pot. I took many photographs studying the interplay of light and shadow.

Granary at Tumacacori @ 2011 Bo Mackison

This is another photograph of the granary. The stairway, at one time, led to the second story of the granary, but only the first floor remains. Efforts by the Park Service to maintain these ruins are ever ongoing. The adobe must be continually cared for or it would eventually be damaged by moisture during the times of the monsoons.

After I spent an hour with my camera, and a second hour taking a tour of the site with a Park Ranger, I spent another hour sitting in the shade, absorbing the mystical sensation of being surrounded by ancient memories held in these ancient walls. I thought about the idea of the granary, comparing it to my Southwestern “explore”, thinking that it is important to me to capture this time in my history, to keep hold of this time, make meaning from these solitary days, these days so different from what I normally experience.

I’ve been documenting my stay in the Southwest in several ways–through journaling, drawing maps, sketching and, of course with my photography. I am particularly drawn to the study of light and shadow in this sunny climate, to the natural areas–mountains surrounded by desert–so unlike the rolling farmland and lake country that I usually call home, and to the stories of the ancient people.

My words, drawings, photographs, and memories–all of these I am storing in my “experience” granary.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for two months, exhibiting her photography in art shows, taking photographs of Arizona landmarks, both historical and natural, and blogging about photography, art fairs, and learning to live on her own. Her mantra is “Bo goes solo!”