OC Photography Trip - New Mexico

ODESSA (July 20, 2016) – Odessa College photography students taking a summer class recently enjoyed a rare treat – a visit to the home of Georgia O’Keefe, an American artist who has been recognized as the “Mother of American modernism.” O’Keefe is best known for her painting of enlarged flowers, New Mexico landscapes and New York skyscrapers. 

Each summer photography professor Steve Goff travels with his students to Abiquiu, New Mexico as a part of a 5-day field trip. The class, Landscape Photography, has long been a favorite of Goff’s students, who often choose to take the class more than once.

One of those students, Jackie Bracamontes, is already planning to take the course again next summer and deciding what additional photography equipment she will take.  Her enthusiasm for the course is obvious. “It was amazing, and we could choose what we wanted to photograph – we weren’t directed to take photos of a specific area.” 

Bracamontes added, “Georgia O’Keefe’s home was beautiful … it was set up like separate casitas … and the floors were very light in color.  That was different from most of the adobe homes which were being built at the time, where they used oxblood in the mud to make the floors a dark color. With her poor vision, which resulted from macular degeneration as she grew older, the light colored floors made the home bright and also enabled her to see her dark colored dogs and not step on them.”

During the course of the field trip, Goff and his students traveled to La Madera, Santa Fe and Plaza Blanca to photograph the dramatic northern New Mexico landscapes.

"The OC Photography program had another great adventure to northern New Mexico this year. There were 14 students plus Beckwith Thompson and I. We are so blessed to know Felipe Ortega and stay with him in La Madera. We photographed each day and got to tour the Georgia O'Keefe home & studio, visit Ojo Caliente mineral springs and, when it was really, really hot, sit in a mountain stream!"

- Photography Professor Steve Goff

Photo Group

Photograph:

Front row: (L-R) Steve Goff, Natalie Casas & Emily Winkler

Second row: (L-R) Vanessa Lara, Jairo Martinez,  Raquel Ortega, Michelle Baggett, Mervin Gibbs, Sarah Nixon, Jackie Bracamontes, Joey Salazar, Cheyenne White & Devyn Bow


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