Don J. Usner • Photos in the Time of Covid

While most people were sequestering themselves away over the past few months, I have been venturing out more than ever in my journeys around New Mexico. I’ve been called to do this as part of my work with Searchlight New Mexico, a nonprofit, investigative journalism organization in Santa Fe. We launched a project in April to spend the next several months visiting and revisiting five towns across the state—Las Vegas, Anthony, Carlsbad, Gallup and Shiprock—to chart their course through the pandemic. And to the list of towns I added excursions to places not on the map, and to events that also marked the turmoil of these times. I couldn’t ignore the eruption of movements seeking the release of incarcerated people who feel trapped in breeding grounds for the virus; rallies opposing lockdown orders as draconian and authoritarian; and the uproar over monuments seen to be celebrating violence and domination. These are indeed tumultuous times and I felt I would be remiss not to take note of the upheaval as I document towns in crisis.

As I visit towns and rural communities across the state, I’m struck by the great diversity of reactions to the virus and the societal unrest it has engendered. In some places, anxiety runs high, masks are ubiquitous, and people earnestly attend to the moment. In others, there is nary a mask to be found, social distancing is anathema—and in fact, people flaunt their opposition to the rules imposed on them in the name of public health. The cities still hum with traffic, but it has a different tone; there’s an awareness of the peril at hand. Out in the reaches of the Navajo Nation, a quiet desperation is the norm, but now a more ominous threat hangs in the silence. Life goes on there, too, but with a strange murmur in the background like the infamous Taos hum.

It fits well with my contrarian nature: while friends and family hunker down, I’ve been heading out. While there is risk in the undertaking, it’s also privilege to witness it all and to be able, with the help of very able reporters from Searchlight, to bring back stories and images that may convey something of these unsettling times.

Don J. Usner, August 2020