BY IRIS WRIGHT | PHOTOS BY BILL CURRY
From the moment he was plucked from obscurity to become the face of runway shows, ad campaigns, TV commercials, and magazine covers, Pennsylvania native Bill Curry has kept his gaze on the other side of the lens. He bought a Canon AE-1 camera on his first trip to Europe as a model for Nino Cerruti in the late 1970s. After shooting while on location in Greece, he would wander the streets and countryside to immerse himself in the local culture, a learning experience that continued as he traveled the world for the next 25 years. Arriving in New York at the fashion world’s zenith, he enjoyed the social benefits of representing Armani, Versace, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, and Donna Karan by keeping company with Andy Warhol at The Factory and many celebrities of that era at Studio 54.
Meanwhile, Curry was exploring his own interests off the set. After a trip to Morocco, he mingled with Berber tribesmen and explored the famous souks of Marrakesh. Curry also attended a Karuk sweat lodge ceremony with medicine man Charles Red Hawk Thom, who would be a spiritual mentor to him for the next 25 years. The stark contrasts between Curry’s hyperactive modern existence and the authenticity of tribal life brought home to him the importance of sincerity on both sides of the lens. More than most, he saw how a photograph could be no more than a paper image unless it reflected a deeper relationship of trust. A lifelong admirer of National Geographic, Curry aspired to the same insider approach, spending hours and days in a community before attempting his first shot. His charisma, lively curiosity, and natural ease inevitably won his subjects’ trust. He likes to quote the photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson: “One has to feel oneself involved in what he frames . . . It is putting one’s head, eyes, and heart on the same axis.”
In Taos, where he has lived since 1992, Curry found a magical light and harmonious balance between three rich cultural
traditions, anchored by the centuries-old heritage of Taos Pueblo. “Immediately, seeing the characters and the land and the culture, there was no doubt that this is the place I had to be for the rest of my life,” he recalls. As he met and mingled with the town’s residents, Curry found opportunities to photograph Taos Pueblo governor Tony Reyna, painter Agnes Martin (he simply knocked on her door), curandera Margarita Mascareñas (at age 100), not to mention Roxanne Swentzell and Robert Mirabal. In the case of the latter, the Grammy Award-winning musician had Curry shoot his concert at Carnegie Hall and a commercial for his winery as well as intimate portraits at home with his daughters. “Whether it’s cowboys, Indians, poets, painters, or musicians, it’s access,” Curry explains. “The best reality for any portrait photographer is to have access to someone, in comfort and with ease. That’s when you get your very best portrait.”
For Trend, Bill Curry presents the diverse faces of Taos through a lens that recognizes the inner quality that makes for more than just a pretty face or nice photo. “The other incarnations of my life certainly led to me traveling the world and picking up a camera and understanding light,” Curry says, looking back at his two-decade career on this side of the lens. “But at the end of the day, it’s really New Mexico itself that has made me a much better photographer.”
Right: Right: Tony Reyna served twice as governor of Taos Pueblo, where his efforts at cultural preservation helped the tribe regain control of its sacred Blue Lake. A famed survivor of the Bataan Death March, he spent three and a half years as a prisoner of the Japanese. He established Tony Reyna’s Indian Shop in 1950, which is now run by his son. He died in December 2016 at the age of 100.
Middle: Longtime Santa Fe blacksmith Frank Turley, shown with wife Juanita, helped power the resurgence of blacksmithing in the United States. At his Turley Forge Blacksmithing School, he insisted on making his own tools and using a coal-fired forge instead of gas. He was also known for his mastery of Tai Chi and the traditional pow-wow Straight Dance. Fashion designer Patricia Michaels is among his stepdaughters. Turley, who died in November 2020, was buried in full powwow regalia.
Right: Maritza “Maggie” Mascareñas was a well-known curandera (healer) and sobadora (body worker) who worked for many years out of Cañon, NM. She died in Taos past the age of 100.
Right: Roxanne Swentzell with her granddaughter, Cedar Rain. The Santa Clara Tewa artist is known for her female portraits in clay and bronze, which have been exhibited at the White House and in international museums.
Middle: Painter Ed Sandoval is known for his colorful appearances in the Taos Plaza dressed as Zorro, riding his Arabian horse, Patron. A well-known painter of New Mexico landscapes, he was born in Nambe and lived in Tesuque and Truchas before settling in Taos, where he can often be seen painting in front of the Ed Sandoval Gallery.
Right: Mark Maggiori, who hails from France and now lives and works in Taos, spent years touring the world as lead vocalist for the nu metal band Pleymo. He is also one of the premier painters of the American West, and his highly vivid and detailed renditions of cowboys, Native Americans, expansive landscapes, and cloud-blossomed skies have caught the attention of collectors, galleries, and museums from around the world.
