As the past recedes, it becomes increasingly difficult to recall New Mexico in a slower and less complex age and to remember how its people once lived. Fortunately New Mexico's rich photographic legacy provides glimpses of times long gone. This fascinating book pairs old photographs from the archives of New Mexico Magazine and the Museum of New Mexico with new images of the same view. Through painstaking research, the exact location of each old photograph was verified and the position from which the old photo was taken was calculated. In most cases, photographer credits were not available.
In a state like New Mexico, which only fifty years ago was largely rural, the paired photographs of towns and cities offer the most dramatic contrasts. As is often the case in rephotography of western landscapes, these paired photos reveal that modern stewardship has increased the amount of vegetation and imporved the view. Where once the banks of the Rio Grande were devastated by over-grazing and lumbering, today the valley is lush with vegetation.
