Passing the torch, mother to son
Don J. Usner
Don J. Usner was born in Embudo, N.M., and has written and provided photos for several books, including The Natural History of Big Sur; Sabino’s Map: Life in Chimayó’s Old Plaza; Benigna’s Chimayó: Cuentos from the Old Plaza; Valles Caldera: A Vision for New Mexico’s National Preserve (winner of a Southwest Book Award); and Chasing Dichos through Chimayó (finalist for a 2015 New Mexico – Arizona Book Award). Don contributed a chapter and photographs to The Plazas of New Mexico (also a winner of Southwest Book Award), and writes for periodicals as well. His photographs were featured in the photography journal Lenswork and in an online blog of The New Yorker.
Posted inChild & Family Welfare
A new chapter for Dorris Hamilton
Guardianship took away Hamilton’s freedoms. Her son is getting them back.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Featured
‘I wish one day there wouldn’t be no drugs here’
Addiction, resilience and hope in Chimayó.
Posted inEviction, Eviction Epidemic, Featured, Housing
Motel of last resort
Amid a housing crisis, a Motel 6 in Albuquerque offers shelter for those in dire need
Posted inFeatured
Scenes from a pandemic
It’s been a year and a half of struggle and resilience in the Southwest. Searchlight’s photographer documented it all.
Posted inChaos and cannabis, Tribal Affairs
Uprooted
A police raid near Shiprock has all but ended an illicit cannabis-growing operation
Posted inElection Day, Featured
New Mexicans go to the polls
Searchlight photographer Don J. Usner travelled the state during early voting to capture New Mexicans as they head to the polls.
Posted inCoronavirus, Featured
Easter in Hobbs
The day before Easter Sunday I drove to Hobbs to attend services at the evangelical ChooseLife Church. I was bracing for a service to be held in defiance of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s order banning mass gatherings at houses of worship in New Mexico. I dreaded the prospect of open conflict. I also dreaded the […]
Posted inFeatured, New Mexico's Children
The Once and Future Child
A photographic history of childhood in New Mexico