"Acequia" [pronounced "ah-SAY-kee-uh"] is one of the most beautiful words in the Spanish language. It translates to “irrigation canal” and has its origins in Arabic. The acequia culture is based on a reciprocal relationship between irrigation and community. The roots of the Hispanic irrigators in the land of their ancestors motivates them to protect their acequias and thus maintain a sense of place in the world. The ditches of each acequia system bring water from a river or mountain stream to a community and is then diverted for irrigating crops, pastures, and gardens.
Here in Santa Fe, there is a long winding street called Acequia Madre that runs parallel to a running ditch. Built 400 years ago, it nurtured the agriculture of the community. Walking my dog alongside the ditch, it is easy to envision how dependent people were on water flowing into their properties and nourishing all that was important to them. I also wonder what they did during periods of drought, when the water was not there to flow.
Jurying this exhibit, I thought of the myriad ways that humankind relies on water, and how it gives energy that takes many forms — rain, snow, mist, clouds, rivers, the ocean. Sifting through all the wonderful imagery (thank you!) that represents all of these forms, I was reminded of the ways we interact with water, and how many ways it integrates into our lives. The imagery I gravitated towards were photographs with a strong composition that could stand on their own. I especially paid attention to little stories that existed within the images, perhaps a detail that made me think about water just a little bit differently, a little bit specifically: being pulled through a jellyfish, bending light to turn an iceberg blue, nourishing a lone tree that I am convinced is in some fertile African country — and always mirroring the sky.
Laura Moya
Call for Entries
Water: A source of beauty and wonder. The environment for a staggering variety of life. Ever various in its forms: fog, mist, spray, ice, oceans and rivers, lakes and streams, rain, sleet, and snow. We are born from it.
Today it’s an element in desperately short supply in some places, while in others, damaging and unpredictable. A harbinger, perhaps, of what’s to come.
For this exhibit we seek photographs that capture the way you experience water: beautiful, wondrous, fearsome, or all of these.
We are very pleased that Laura Moya will be jurying and curating this exhibition. She will select approximately 35 images for exhibition in the gallery, and 40 for our Online Gallery. All 75 selected images will be reproduced in the exhibition print catalog and remain permanently on our website, with links to photographer’s URL.
Information about our printing service and free matting and framing here.
Click to enlarge.
About the Juror
Laura Moya is the former Director of Photolucida, organizing their Portfolio Reviews events and overseeing Critical Mass programming for many years. Laura co-curated an independent project, The Early Works Project, which was shown at Newspace Center for Photography, Rayko Photo Center, the Center for Fine Art Photography, and the Photographic Resource Center, as well as The Elevated Selfie: Beyond the Bathroom Mirror, which exhibited at LightBox Photographic Gallery and the Griffin Museum of Photography. She has participated in Reviews events including the National Society for Photographic Education and LensCulture in Paris, and participated in talks and panels at international festivals such as the Pinyao International Photo Festival and GuatePhoto Festival. Most recently she curated and designed the exhibition spaces for these major museum exhibitions: HUMAN/NATURE (Lishui Art Museum/2021 Lishui Photography Festival, China) and PERSEPHONE’S EDGE (Benaki Museum/2022 Athens Photo Festival, Greece).
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