Forever New Mexico: Heartfelt Images of the Land of Enchantment

Forever New Mexico: Heartfelt Images of the Land of Enchantment by Vigil, Arnold. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780937206836.

Most genuine lovers of New Mexico stubbornly perceive the state through a set of rose-colored glasses. They see the land and its indigenous people without inevitable modernization and filter out the invasion of Siberian (Chinese) elms and other non-native vegetation. They look beyond the splattering of manufactured homes and accompanying litter. Purposely, true lovers of New Mexico highly romanticize their chosen mecca that even today still dishes them out slices of the simple ways of bygone life. Fortunately, for many of them, there exists a wealth of old, quality photographs that manage to portray such nostalgic versions of New Mexico in past real-life situations. Forever New Mexico: Heartfelt Images of the Land of Enchantment presents scores of such images that were mostly taken during the Depression era before post-World War II forever altered the New Mexican lifestyle that remained relatively unchanged for centuries. Forever New Mexico draws upon a treasure trove of photographs from the Farm Security Administration archival files of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the Photo Archives unit of the Museum of New Mexico, the archival files of New Mexico Magazine and the state Tourism Department historical collection at the New Mexico State Records and Archives Center.