paradise falls, new mexico christina battle, 2004

A lone man packing a gun; themes of vengeance; justice; masculinity; the culminating formulaic shoot out. These are the ingredients for the ultimate Western. With outlaws, lawmen, breath-taking settings and an alluring simplicity, the Western presumes to represent the past, however mythical or imagined. Contrasting ghost towns from the true west with popular images from Hollywood westerns, paradise falls, new mexico constructs an imaginary past. Hand processing and emulsion lifts serve to strip away the myths behind the western footage, challenging the history they misleadingly represent. ghosttowns (documented spring 2001): tumco, ca - 1880 to 1909 vulture, az- 1880 to 1897 fort bowie, az - 1862 to 1894 ruby, az - 1912 to 1941 aruvica, az - 1812 to present riely, nm - 1880 to 1931