Ghost Ranch and the Faraway Nearby

Best Photography Book - 2010
by Craig Varjadedian

For more than twenty years, Craig Varjabedian has explored and photographed the red cliffs and sweeping plains of the fabled 21,000-acre Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico. In Ghost Ranch and the Faraway Nearby, he shares more than one hundred new black-and-white photographs capturing its evanescent light. These images reach beyond familiar ideas associated with the Ranch--such as its renown as a site of personal renewal and transformation, and as the longtime home of twentieth-century painter Georgia O'Keeffe--into Varjabedian's singular vision of his subject and its ties to ideas of identity, place, and perception. To further illuminate the experience of Ghost Ranch, Varjabedian gathered essays to accompany his photographs, including an "appreciation" of Ghost Ranch written by Georgia O'Keeffe. These include an evocative introduction by photographer Jay Packer, a major essay by writer Marin Sardy examining the place's natural features and social history, and topical essays by theological studies professor Belden C. Lane, arts writer Douglas A. Fairfield, and former Ghost Ranch executive director Rob Craig. Also included are forewords by Cathy L. Wright, Director of the Albuquerque Museum of Art & History, and Debra Hepler, Executive Director of Ghost Ranch.