Four Corners

Debra Bloomfield , Photographer

Introduction by Linda Connor
Essay by Douglas Nickel

In 1989 photographer Debra Bloomfield got into her car and headed east from California. Near Oak Creek Canyon in Arizona she began photographing, feeling somehow a part of the landscape through which she traveled. For the next ten years, she would sojourn in the desert and mountain regions of the Southwest three or four times a year, expanding her horizons topographically and spiritually, capturing with her camera a juxtaposition of vast spaces and lonely intimacy inherent in the terrain that surrounded her.

In 1997 she found herself in Las Trampas, New Mexico, and discovered through its church and others like it in the northern areas of the state that interior spaces can evoke the same kinds of meanings for her as landscapes do. In both, she felt a sense of place and history, of hope and transformation. At once ethereal and haunting, her images are also transcendent, suggesting a balance between spiritual and secular.

"Debra Bloomfield's Four Corners photographs capture the unique intersection of earth and sky and Spanish and Native American cultures that exists in the American Southwest. In these soulful works, nature and humanity seem to be of one piece, or perhaps more accurately, of one dream. Simultaneously harsh and serene, Bloomfield's images of mesas and saints are imbued with a powerful spirituality that, as anyone who has been to this remarkable region can attest, is as real as it is compelling."--Lawrence Rinder, curator of contemporary art, Whitney Museum of American Art

"In Debra Bloomfield's southwestern landscape photographs, color and light glow with a luminosity reminiscent of a Rothko painting. Her images, which transcend the visible, reflect the eternal spirit and energy found in these sacred places."--Judith Golden, professor emerita, photography, University of Arizona, Tucson.

"Bloomfield captures the timeless quintessence of life and universality of place. Her color interpretations are both literal and poetic not unlike the inventive spirit within the art of Georgia O'Keeffe. The photographs here sustain their own unique presence through subject, color, light, and space."--Steve Yates, Senior Fulbright Scholar and curator of photography, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe

Wrangler Award winner in the premier Best Photography Book category from the Western Heritage Association, 2004.

"Four Corners is a wonderful volume dedicated to both the desolation and serene beauty of the land."--Roundup Magazine

"Four Corners takes us on a journey of the spirit as traveled by the photographer Debra Bloomfield."--The Santa Fe New Mexican

"Bloomfield has put together a masterful photo essay of the beauty that is the Four Corners region."--True West

"Debra Bloomfield's extraordinary pictures blur the line beautifully between photography and painting. . . A person can't look at Bloomfield's pictures without experiencing a feeling of solace fom the disquiet of life."--The Desert-Mountain News, Texas

"Debra Bloomfield's luminous photographs beautifully capture the soul of the Southwest in a lush book that would make a welcome addition to a photographers book collection or a gift to any aficionado of the Southwest. . . All in all, a magical book."--ABQ Arts

"New Mexico is a place where the harsh yet beautiful environment has given birth to a unique blending of cultures to create an other worldly atmosphere that is difficult to describe. Debra Bloomfield has done a magnificent job of capturing the very essence of Albuquerque in the form of 67 color images that explore the ancient heart of Chaco Canyon, Spanish churches, and lonely lanscapes that are ablaze with rich desert colors. This is a fine collection of highly detailed photographs that are certain to spark your imagination and capture your interest."--Shutterbug Magazine

"The book presents Bloomfield's image fully--one to each large page. . The overall effect is like walking through a gallery. . . these images are hauntingly beautiful."--New Mexico Magazine

"The old saw has it that "A picture is worth a thousand words." This collection of photographs of our scenic American Southwest bears out that truism. . . Four Corners has a marvelous historical introduction that sets the scene for the incredibly beautiful and huanting photographs that follow."--USA Today

"This is a beautiful book for your coffee table, library, or a gift. For the santo lover, it does have color pictures that you don't usually see. There are also fabulous landscapes. There are unusual and unforgettable close-ups. The color is top notch. This book makes you want to pick up your camera and go for a road trip."--Tradición

"This is a powerful book of images of an area that clearly has the respect of the author. . . This is a must-have book for any reader seeking to understand, or remember, the place special known as the Four Corners."--Southwest BookViews

"Through tightly composed and richly saturated photographs. . . Debra Bloomfield has added to my appreciation of the region with her lovely book." --The Bloomsbury Review

Debra Bloomfield is a professional photographer living in Berkeley, California. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees from San Francisco State University. In 1992 she received the James D. Phelan Art Award in Photography. She teaches at the San Francisco Art Institute.

11 x 11 166 pages 67 color plates