Carol M. Highsmith

A sign for a shop in the artsy town of taos

Carol Highsmith has donated her life's photography work of tens of thousands of images to the Library of Congress during her decades-long career.  The photography collection at the Library is the most historic photographic collection on earth and includes the work of Dorothea Lange and Frances Benjamin Johnston.  Highsmith has been doing a visual study of America for 40 years and travels the United States for about 10 months a year.

New Mexico

A classic Owl Cigar advertising sign dominates a block of Socorro, New Mexico

Sculpture, "First Contact," in Socorro, New Mexico

Tiny chapel in the settlement of Tomé, New Mexico

Armando Alvarez Compean's 1997 sculpture La Puerta Del Sol, below Tomé, New Mexico

Artist Armando Alvarez Compean's 1997 La Puerta Del Sol sculpture grouping below Tomé, New Mexico

Huge rattlesnake sculpture in Albuquerque, New Mexico

One of two huge, nearly 200-foot-long rattlesnake sculptures in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Snow on overcast day in the mountains north of Albuquerque, New Mexico

Foothills under a vast blue sky with clouds

Dusk view of El Santuario de Chimayó, a Roman Catholic church, Chimayó, New Mexico

Scene inside the Prayer Portal, adjacent to the Santo Niño de Atocha Chapel, Chimayó, New Mexico

Gift shop of the Santo Niño de Atocha Chapel, built in 1857 in Chimayó, New Mexico

Altar of the Santo Niño de Atocha Chapel, built in 1857 in Chimayó, New Mexico

A depiction of the namesake of the Santo Niño de Atocha Chapel, Chimayó, New Mexico

Doorway of Catholic chapel built in 1857

The Santo Niño de Atocha Chapel, built in 1857 in Chimayó, New Mexico

Painted mermaid sculpture for sale at the El Potrero Trading Post

Ornate mission style catholic alter centered around the crucifix

Figure of Santo Niño inside the El Santuario de Chimayó, New Mexico

Interior view of El Santuario de Chimayó, a Roman Catholic church in Chimayó, New Mexico

Dog House hot dog stand

Single tree on a quiet road near Bernailillo, New Mexico

A tiny chapel at the entrance to Chimayó, a New Mexico village

Bridge over the Royal Gorge of the Rio Grande River, near Ojo Caliente, New Mexico

Sign for “Taos” at Camino Real Imports and Gift Shop in Taos, New Mexico

Hot-pepper chiles are the traffic-stopper at the Camino Real Imports and Gift Shop

Vintage gasoline pumps outside roadside attraction Classical Gas Museum

Vintage car parked outside the Ed Sandoval southwestern-art galley in Taos, New Mexico

Old-style adobe building adorned with hot-pepper chiles in Taos, New Mexico

The San Francisco de Asis Mission church in Ranchos de Taos, south of Taos, New Mexico

A fisherman in the Rio Grande

An old camper stands beneath a Frontier Gasoline station sign at the Classical Gas Museum

The general-store portion of a nostalgic roadside attraction, the Classical Gas Museum

Frontier Gasoline station sign at roadside attraction, Classical Gas Museum

Chile peppers, are displayed outside the Casa Cristal Potter home-and-garden roadside

A painted metal-art figure resembling a mariachi band musician

Mural by Randy Ortiz Martinez depicting iconic local lowrider Noland Martinez in Española, NM

Landscape shot of a vast colorful sun set in New Mexico

Vintage cars and trucks parked outside wooden lodges

Vintage bright car parked among a wooden lodge and fence

Vintage car with wood forming a teepee

Antiques scattered in a yard, Carrizozo, New Mexico

Installation known as “outsider art” in the small New Mexico town of Carrizozo

Artist Paula Wilson, founder of MomaZozo

Man onstage at the Lyric Theatre in the small south-central New Mexico town of Carrizozo

Royal figures as chairs outside a shop in Carrizozo,  New Mexico

Cowboy figure outside a cafe, Carrizozo, New Mexico

Isolated cactus against a blue sky

Sign for the Taos Trading Co., a gift shop in Taos, New Mexico