DAVID POLICANSKY has been tracking down and photographing historic Catholic churches since he first visited New Mexico in 2005. “I immediately noticed these interesting old churches all over the state,” says Policansky, who was born in South Africa and raised in the Jewish faith. “They were a beautiful part of the landscape.” Over time, the Santa Fe transplant took enough images to fill a book—or rather, a series of four geographically distinct books, including his latest, Historic Catholic Churches of Northwestern New Mexico, published in 2024. The churches he photographs are often on the brink of disappearing, and extinction is a risk the former environmental scientist understands better than most. For decades, he oversaw scientific research that helped determine environmental policy on fisheries and endangered species. Now, Policansky captures New Mexico’s old houses of worship the way he once studied ecosystems: patiently, methodically, and with an eye toward what might be lost.
EXPLORING CAPE TOWN’S grand old cathedrals and synagogues amazed me as a boy. I was captivated by the architecture, the music, and the art.
I WAS BORN INTO A FAMILY that prioritized education and curiosity.
MY FATHER WAS A BUSINESSMAN and inventor. He came up with a machine that cut and rolled cigarette rolling papers, and later he designed fishing reels.
IN MY LATEST BOOK, you’ll find well-known big churches like Cathedral Basilica and Santuario de Guadalupe, both in downtown Santa Fe, alongside lesser-known and more remote sites like a morada in Sandoval County that dates back to the late 1800s, and dozens of chapels spread out across Río Arriba County.
TRACKING DOWN OLD CHURCHES involves planning and research.
PEOPLE I MEET DURING MY TRAVELS have been helpful, too, and always happy to share what they know about their community and its history. Sometimes a neighbor walks over with keys to let you inside a church, but for the most part, even better-known churches like San José de Gracia church in Las Trampas are often locked.
IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN ENTERING a particular church, call the archdiocese and ask about visitation rules.
WHILE SOME REMOTE CHURCHES are maintained by village mayordomos, or designated caretakers, others have fallen into disrepair and many have vanished entirely.
WITHOUT ATTENTION, the disappearance of many of these churches is inevitable.
CHURCHES ARE MORE than fixtures of the New Mexico landscape.
THEY HOUSE IMPORTANT records and hold generations of memories.
I OFTEN HEAR, “My parents were married in this church, and I was baptized here. I went to my grandfather’s funeral at this church.”
CATHOLICISM’S ROLE IN NEW MEXICO is unique to the 50 states. Historic churches are maintained collectively by local communities. They are embedded directly into daily social life.
FOR CENTURIES, devotional artwork from New Mexico was historically emotional and vivid. It was an important tool in communicating religious ideas.
I HAVE MET WONDERFUL PEOPLE who are passionate about historic churches.
THE PAINTINGS OF GEORGIA O’KEEFFE encourage me to pay close attention to detail. She also loved capturing New Mexico’s old churches and painted them as part of the landscape.
WINTER IS THE BEST SEASON to photograph churches, when the absence of foliage brings a structure into sharp focus and the light is lower and softer.
SEE FOR YOURSELF
Buy David Policansky's books at Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse and the New Mexico History Museum, both in Santa Fe; the Abiquiú Inn, in Abiquiú; Bookworks, in Albuquerque; and La Galeria @ The Shaffer, in Mountainair.