Photo Essay
by Martha Hughes and Bonita Barlow, text by Jack Copeland
Photograph by Martha Hughes
Marfa
View of Marfa and the Davis Mountains from Pinto Canyon Road (Highway 2810) – the best hike-and-bike trail in Texas.
T
here are talented and passionate
people living in and passing
through our little hamlet of
Marfa, and one of the beneficiaries of
this flow of creativity turns up in an
unlikely place – the Marfa Chamber of
Commerce e-newsletter.
Even the word "newsletter" generally
induces me to glaze over, but when stim-
ulating and beautiful random images of
Marfa and its surrounds are donated by
readers of this newsletter, we've got a dif-
ferent ballgame.
18
Just consider these images submitted
by resident artist Martha Hughes and vis-
iting artist Bonita Barlow.
The tradition of using reader-sub-
mitted photos started with the promo-
tion of the Chamber's first "Turkey
Trot" 5k/10k race. Love 'em or hate
'em, everyone remembers those bands of
gallineous birds that dominated Marfa's
street life for a season or two. There were
more entries about those sassy turkeys
on Marfalist than there are residents in
the entire town. But the larger point is,
Cenizo
First Quarter 2013
as Marfa Chamber board member and
vice president Laura Hajovsky notes, a
tradition was launched in which "people
were so excited to see their photos in the
newsletter...seeing Marfa through so
many different sets of eyes (or cameras)!"
My reaction to the inclusion of read-
er-submitted photos in the newsletter is
delight in this joyful exploration – our
best work often derives in this fashion. For
photographer/painter Martha Hughes,
it's a chance to express what attracts her
to Marfa: "The quiet – the restorative
and mind-cleansing quiet."
It’s the Chamber's mission to support
Marfa business. If creative participation
by our readers can enhance the detailed
text and event announcements of its
member businesses each week, then the
newsletter is doing its bit to support that
mission. Don't just take my word for it -
once, when we didn't get the letter out, we
knew by the sheer volume of complaints
that we had a good thing going.