Image of the month: September 2020
Ansel Adams, Image of the Coyote, New Mexico Morada
Ansel Adams photographed the Coyote, New Mexico Penitente Morada in 1950. At that time the small religious structure was covered in mud plaster. The texture of the wall created an astoundingly beautiful image that Adams captured on film against a black sky. The photograph is minimal and so simple it appeals to both the most and least sophisticated photography advocates.
Fair Use Copy from “Photographs of the Southwest”
“Photographs of the Southwest” by Ansel Adams
Adams’s image of the morada is included in his book, “Photographs of the Southwest.” I own the book and have perused it many times. Recently, as I was photographing rural New Mexico during the pandemic, I looked at the book again. I wondered, “Does the morada still exist after all these years, and, if so, what is its condition?” I searched the internet and found many listings for Ansel Adams’s famous image for sale and auction. However, there was no information about the morada itself. I called Cornerstone Community Partnerships, the preservation organization in Santa Fe. They knew the image but didn’t know whether the morada still existed.
The Coyote Morada after 70 Years
Intrigued, I headed to Coyote with my question and my camera. I asked a rancher with a stalled vehicle beside the road whether he knew the location of the morada. “Oh yes,” he said, “it’s right behind the post office.” And there it was. Behind a wire fence with a small opening stood the morada surrounded by weeds and brambles. After seventy years, it was the same shape and size, but the textured mud plaster had been forsaken for a hard gray cement covering. The roof was pitched to carry rainwater away from the walls, and the door and windows had been replaced.
Jane Whitmore Photographer
The morada still seemed mysterious. I was excited to find it, to pay my respects and to obtain a photograph. What would Ansel Adams do if he could photograph the morada again 70 years later? I think he would achieve just the right angle with his lens, wait for perfect light and work like crazy in his darkroom to create a beautiful image of the now-changed morada.