Art on the walls of houses in Bisbee, Arizona
Driving down a valley road in southern Arizona, I could not have been more surprised with how delightful I found the small, hidden town of Bisbee. I have never seen a town wedged into a very narrow, very steep valley like Bisbee is. The topography forces some creative home building, such as walls for leveling out the property. What do the people of Bisbee do with these walls? Many of them embedded colorful glass bottles into them! And the narrow gaps between houses? Well you might find and art museum amount of paintings hanging up! I highly recommend visiting Bisbee someday and feeling the great vibe of this hidden gem of a town.
Read MoreLong way for service at this gas station
My work as a rural land real estate photographer takes me to some very, very out of the way places in New Mexico. You may have seen many of these photos on Jason Collin Photography before. On one such recent trip, it took me past Trementina, New Mexico, which like many tiny towns in name only, the one thing they have is a post office. Next to the post office I saw this ancient, abandoned gas station. I have a long history of photographing abandoned things, which I learned to be called haikyo, from my time first exploring them in Japan in the 00s. I even had an exhibition featuring those photographs. Let me know in the comments below what year you think that gas pump last filled up a car? Or maybe just a tractor??
Read MoreCows like the Road less traveled
My work for Hemingway Land Company takes me to many well off the beaten path places in New Mexico and I share those photos here on Jason Collin Photography regularly.. The town of Belen is itself a small town about 40 minutes south of Albuquerque, but when you add in 8 miles of dirt road, one finds oneself in places only cows usually venture. Thus, on the drive back from a property shoot in this remote area cows were blocking the dirt road. Now there are thousands of acres out there, and maybe the width of the road takes up 0.000001% of it, yet nearly every time I come and go in the spring time in this area, I have to slow down and wait for cows to get out of the road. This time I thought, “ok, if you are going to make me stop, I am going to make you pose for photos!” Then one cow wanted to perhaps come home with me (see the last photo), but I do not think the amount of grass I have in my backyard would sustain a growing calf!
Read MoreWhat it takes to navigate 10 miles offroad where no roads go
This week I made my second trip this month to the El Morro area of Cibola County, New Mexico on a rural land real estate shoot for Hemingway Land. Regular followers of Jason Collin Photography will note that rural land photography is a frequent, and large part of my business. However, I never really detail all that it involves logistically, and then physically, to do a shoot like this that takes me 10+ miles down poorly maintained dirt roads in my Jeep Renegade Trailhawk.
Read MoreMaternity Photography with bubbles in Albuquerque
This maternity photography photo shoot in Altura Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico was a rare opportunity, so rare in fact this was only the second ever maternity shoot I have done! This is because for most of my photography career as the owner/photographer of Jason Collin Photography I have been a commercial photographer.
Read MoreMy M3 in print
It is still a big thrill to see my photographs in print in a magazine. So when the very first issue of Bimmer Life Magazine arrived in the mail with my photos on a 2-page spread, photo credit, and being mentioned by name in the article itself, I got a rush. The gray M3 convertible above is my own car as well, so my photos and my car in Bimmer Life Magazine! Thank you to Dan for making this happen by getting me to submit these photos to him in time in turn for him to submit them to Bimmer Life Magazine in time.
Read MoreErie Street lives in the past and present
Not quite a ghost town, not quite totally forgotten, but Lowell, Arizona is certainly in the past. Walking down its main street (and only street), Erie Street, you pass storefronts full of dust covered merchandise, classic cars, a Greyhound bus waiting for no one, pool halls, and a gas station that is not exactly full service anymore, even if you were willing to pay more than 22 cents per gallon! This place fascinated me. In front of the Greyhound bus I just sat right on the sidewalk for 20 minutes trying to listen to the stories coming through the cracks of the sidewalks, the walls, the signs.
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