Lewis Auto Museum

Now that I've lived out here for four years (!), I've learned that images of old rusted-out cars and trucks are must-have elements of the photographic vocabulary of New Mexico.  And they're not too hard to find if you look:

Lake Valley, NM

 

Cuba, NM

 

San Fidel, NM

But the "mother lode" for old cars and trucks is the Lewis Antique Auto & Toy Museum located about 30 miles east of Albuquerque in Moriarty, New Mexico.  I made my second visit to this shrine about a month ago, with a group of other photographers from our Camera Club.

The building is filled with a jumble of restored antique autos and old toys, and, dimly lit, it's not photography-friendly.  But around back are acres of cars, trucks, buses, trailers, all rusting away in the brilliant New Mexico sun . . .

 
Some of the vehicles appear to be in relatively good shape . . .

 . . . while others are clearly not:

The vehicles are packed cheek-by-jowl, so it's practically impossible to photograph a single car in its entirety.

The physical arrangement of the cars forces a different photographic strategy:  shooting portions of vehicles . . .

or shooting details:

 

And this is where it gets very interesting visually.  The closer you get, the more beautiful these objects become.  Here's an example.

 Here's another example:

Eventually, it all becomes abstract, and a different world opens up:

If you would like to see these images (and more) in a larger format, please visit my photography website, Todos Juntos Photography, by clicking here.

Enjoy!