"It is one thing to encounter the 'Land of Enchantment' as a tourist or a part-time resident. It is entirely another to commit to living here, with the harsh realities such as poverty and racism that lie just beneath the surface. Parsons shows us what it is to know all of that and still love this place with all its contradictions. His images show us the darkness and the hope. Indeed, as Frederick Turner writes in his introduction, "[they] remind us of the endless process of loss that we call living.'"

So writes MaryAnne Redding, Curator of Photography at the Photo Archives in the New Mexico History Museum's The Palace of the Governors, in praise of Parsons' "Dark Beauty", published by Hudson Hills Press.

The book features over one hundred of Jack Parsons' rarely-published photographs of New Mexico, culled from shots taken over the past thirty-five years. Its images of small towns and lonely plains, of mountains, rivers, fiestas, murals and old adobe houses, of crumbling walls and dirt roads, present a very personal, elegaic vision of the state where he has made his home since the 1970s.

These photographs reveal Parsons' deep understanding and reverence for a place whose rich history, unique multiculturalism and unparalleled beauty continue to captivate residents and tourists alike. In showing us what truths lie beneath the surface of such realities, he has created a visual tribute unlike any other. Click here to find out more in printable PDF format.

• Signed copies of "Dark Beauty" are available for $65.00, including P&P. Payment can be made by check or money order to Jack Parsons, P.O. Box 548, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504, USA, or via PAYPAL using jack@jackparsons.com

• Click here to buy a copy now via Amazon