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Nieman Notes
Living Treasures
By Steve Northup
There is a small committee in Santa
Fe that twice each year names
three people as “Living Treasures.”
The name, and to some extent
the content, is based on a model created
by the Japanese to honor citizens
for their artistic contributions. But Santa
Fe honors a wider spectrum of service.
There is an age requirement—over 80—
but it is sometimes waved when there
is worry about a recipient making 80.
Seven years ago, the committee came
to me and asked that I take over the
photography part of the program, doing
a portrait of each treasure. I felt
honored, and the Treasures Project
was a precise fit into a portrait project
I’ve been plugging away at for about 10
years: black and white, big negative
(four by five-inch), wide-angle environmental
portraits, done by available
light. These living treasures seem to
bring their own light to the process.
For me, the best part is being able to
spend hours with each of them in quiet
conversation before the camera comes
out of the bag. ■
Pedro Ribera-Ortega, majordomo of La Conquistadora. The statue came to New Mexico
with the reconquest of 1693.
Text and all photos © Steve Northup,
a 1974 Nieman Fellow who lives in
Santa Fe, New Mexico.
118 Nieman Reports / Winter 2001