NMBA Member David Policansky's latest work captures churches and their history.

In this fourth collection, Historic Catholic Churches of Northwestern New Mexico, David Policansky, the photographer and author, has continued a long-term mission to photograph the captivating and evocative historic Catholic churches of the state of New Mexico. The mission became a journey that covered the highways, back roads, and 4WD trails of the state, from north to south, east to west. He has driven these roads, photographing these churches that reflect New Mexico's complex history and beautiful landscapes, and talked to many people who attend, maintain, and love them.

His photographs and descriptions of the churches reflect that complex beauty and provide enough information for the reader to find each of them. They also reflect an urgency: many small, rural, historic churches in New Mexico lack funds for maintenance as rural populations decline, and some of them are at risk of disappearing forever. This volume covers the churches in northwestern New Mexico, churches north of Interstate 40 and west of the eastern parts of Santa Fe and Taos counties. The churches include famous and imposing ones like the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis in Santa Fe, and more-modest ones off the beaten track like San Luis Gonzaga in San Luis. They cover not only a geographic span but a time span from the 1700s to the 20th century. Each is church unique, each has its own story, and each claims the Land of Enchantment as home.

This interest in New Mexico’s churches led to his previous books, also published by Sunstone Press: Historic Catholic Churches Along the Rio Grande in New Mexico, Historic Catholic Churches in Central and Southern New Mexico, and Historic Catholic Churches of Northeastern New Mexico. He says that he is not a historian or a regular church-goer, but photographing New Mexico churches has deepened his appreciation of the state's marvelous cultural and natural landscapes, including the fact that the descendants of these New Spanish/Mexican colonists have been here as long and are just as American as the descendants of the Mayflower pilgrims. He adds that when you consider the even longer history here of the Native Americans, you can begin to understand the complexity and profundity of the factors that have led to the presence of these beautiful buildings all over New Mexico.

The books are carried by several New Mexico book and gift shops in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Abiquiu, Mountainair, and elsewhere. They are available on line at Alibris, Amazon, Addall.com, and other sites, and can be ordered through any bookstore. La Galeria at the Shaffer in Mountainair was the first to carry my books: https://lagaleria-theshaffer.com/