Heading to the river, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979

Text excerpts and photographs from: River of Traps: A Village Life, by William deBuys and Alex Harris

April 2009 interview with Alex Harris and William deBuys about River of Traps

Photographers are made by their subjects, and the best subjects have the quality of being self-possessed without being self-conscious. They know how to “be themselves.”

The photographer says, “just be yourself.” And you think, “Easy for you to say.” But you don’t say it because the lens is pointed at you. Your mind begins to race: Is your hair in your face? Your fly zipped? Is your mouth in the same pout that has plagued you in every photograph all your life? It’s either the pout or the smirk. Quick. Decide!

Jacobo never had to decide. He had a gift few people share. He had the ability to project aspects of himself, to wear naturally the smile or squint that fit the situation. The quality he had went beyond being photogenic. It was an instinct for self-projection, a presence, a centeredness. It was much the same quality that attracted us to him as a person. And it allowed him to look into a camera without defensiveness.

  1. Heading to the river, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  2. Jacobo clearing willows, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  3. Preparations for baling hay, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  4. Putting away Jacobo's hay, El Valle, New Mexico, 1980
  5. Jacobo irrigating, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  6. Jacobo Romero, eightieth birthday portrait, El Valle, New Mexico, June 11, 1979
  7. Jacobo and Eloisa at the corral, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  8. After baling hay, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  9. Jacobo Romero, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  10. Jacobo Romero telling stories, vuelta Sáles, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  11. Jacobo Romero telling stories, vuelta Sáles, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  12. Jacobo Romero telling stories, vuelta Sáles, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  13. Jacobo Romero telling stories, vuelta Sáles, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  14. Jacobo Romero telling stories, vuelta Sáles, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  15. Jacobo Romero telling stories, vuelta Sáles, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  16. Jacobo irrigating, El Valle, New Mexio, 1979
  17. Jacobo on the El Valle Road, 1979
  18. Jacobo Romero in his barn, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  19. Jacobo and Eliza in
  20. Jacobo feeding the cows in the winter, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  21. Jacobo and Eliza walking home with wild spinach, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  22. Jacobo Romero, Kit Carson National Forest above Pot Creek, New Mexico, 1979
  23. Jacobo's whip, El Valle, New Mexico, 1980
  24. Jacobo's bridge and hay storage at the river, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  25. Jacobo and his great-grandson wait for the hay to be baled, El Valle, New Mexico 1980
  26. Jacobo at his barn and corral, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  27. Putting away the hay, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  28. Jacobo's hay in the old gristmill, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  29. El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  30. Baptism, Dixon, New Mexico, 1983
  31. Jacobo Romero in the River of Traps, 1979