Joan Myers (b. 1944)

Joan Myers is an exceptionally gifted and prolific Santa Fe artist whose diverse photographic projects have resulted in numerous books and photography exhibitions around the country. Myers received an MA (1966) in musicology from Stanford University, but during the 1970s became interested in non-silver photographic processes. After moving to Santa Fe she was asked in 1980 to join the New Mexico Photographic Survey funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. The project allowed twelve photographers to document the subject of their choice within the state. Myers chose to photograph the Santa Fe Trail, at that time unmarked and unused for more than a century.

For decades Myers handcolored her platinum palladium print photographs to create a tactile feeling that reminded her of the landscape. "With platinum, the paper feels and looks like drawing paper. You can't see the image on the paper, separate from the paper. The image becomes part of the paper." Today Myers shoots and prints with digital cameras and printers achieving many of the same textural and color effects.

Myers's photographic projects include the Santa Fe Trail, Western relocation camps, images of aging women, the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain, the environmental disaster of The Salton Sea near Palm Springs, California, the frozen world of Antarctica, geo-thermal regions in the U.S. and abroad, and African game preserves. Myers has said of her work, "I don't do portraits or social commentary. What interests me is living - the way human beings affect the landscape in which they live. I simply want to share what I've learned about a particular place or issue, and feel a sense of personal responsibility for that."

Liz Kay