Doug at his studio-June 2005We last saw Doug at our Christmas Eve party when he and the family came over to meet Justin and his new bride Karly. I was just thinking of calling him last week for coffee and now he is gone from us.
Doug was one of those people that could pick up a camera and somehow every time get on film the essence of his subject. I especially loved his photos of every day people living their lives in New Mexico. I was inspired by his images of Flamenco dancers. His many books grace legions of coffee tables through out the world. The art community in New Mexico has lost another great member.
4 comments:
This news came as a real surprise to me. I'm still trying to understand my feelings about it all. I grew up with Devon and Doug, they were really influential people in my life. I lost frequent contact with them when they moved to Albuquerque and in the last few years I've totally lost contact with them. Like you, I had been thinking to contact them. Really, he was such a great man, he is truly a great artist.
I knew him as a child, and teenager, and truly his spirit was unique.
God has blessed me to cross paths with saints and sages in this journey of my life and Doug was a great sage.
When Doug taught his karate class on Saturdays, I would get there early (7:00AM), and the two of us would do Tai Chi together. It was a very quiet and wonderful time. Later, when I was recovering from a spinal cord injury, I found that the Tai Chi that he taught me was the only regimen I could maintain to heal myself. I am grateful for his patience and guidance.
As a photographer, I used to travel quite a bit, and one lucky day I happened to be seated next to Doug. We both got to telling tall and taller tales, and became buddies. I always kidded with him about being a character in one of his books, and he always said I would have to be killed in one. I agreed, and for the next dozen or so years we started every conversation off with his description of my demise. I visited him and Dawn just after he bought his half of a town, Alcalde, and he visited me in NYC. What a sight he made all cowboyed up in the Big Apple, but he always walked tall, spoke slowly, and never lost his amused twinkle in his eye. Dawn was a beauty, and I always envied him. She introduced me to her sister, but time and distance prevented me from joing his family as an inlaw. In fact it has been ages since we contacted each other, but today as I heard the news, stunned, it was easy to remember him in our time capsule, and it is very easy to consider him a one of a kind wonderful man. I am sorry others will miss the opportunity to meet him. I was a lucky one.
Doug Hall was my mother's cousin. We are all sad to hear of his passing. I remember him coming to see us when I was a little girl back in the 1970's and being very impressed to have a famous person in our family. My father loved all of his stories about rodeos and cowboys. My parents had lost touch with him over the years and so I did not realize how many great writings and photographs he has left behind. I will be bringing my 3 daughters to the southwest this summer(from Oregon) so they may have the chance to be inspired by his wonderful work. Malia (Barlow) Jasmer
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