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For over a century, El Palacio has been a forum for voices exploring New Mexico’s art, archaeology, history, and landscape. Explore the writers, photographers, historians, and scientists whose perspectives have defined the magazine’s pages—past and present.
Arthur Sze is the current U.S. Poet Laureate. Sze is a poet, translator, and editor. He is the author of twelve books, including Into the Hush, Sight Lines, and others. Sze’s poems have been translated into fifteen languages, and he is the recipient of the National Book Award among many other honors. He lives in Santa Fe.
Deborah Jackson Taffa is a citizen of the Quechan Nation and Laguna Pueblo. Her memoir Whiskey Tender was a 2024 National Book Award Finalist and was longlisted for the 2025 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. Taffa serves as the director of the MFA in creative writing program at the Institute of American Indian Arts.
Cara Romero is an award-winning contemporary fine art photographer. An enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Romero’s expansive oeuvre has been informed by formal training in film, digital, fine art, and commercial photography. She maintains a studio in Santa Fe, regularly participates in Native American art fairs, and was featured in PBS’ Craft in America (2019).
Carrie McCarthy (opens in a new tab) is a photographer, writer, and creative director based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She currently works with a range of clients to help them navigate the ever-evolving post-pandemic universe.
![A man in a light blue shirt and jeans stands smiling in a stone doorway of a rustic, partially collapsed building. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Framework-final-400x225.jpg)
While photographing the town of Duran for The Story of Structures, I was on a corner, hip-deep in chamisa that was on its crunchy, end-of-season last legs. With only thirty-six residents, hustle and bustle is decidedly not the prevailing vibe in Duran. In fact, in the several hours I had been roaming and photographing, I had only seen one other car on the mostly dirt streets, and no other people.
