Dawn Alyssa

Graduate. Writer. Journalist. Storyteller. Illustrator. Artist. Designer. French speaker. Wanderer capturing images. Contact: [email protected] Copyright©2021.

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la nuit du cimetière

Je présente ma meillure amie Haley

the night of the cemetary

I introduce you to my best friend, Haley

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The Trainyard

Las Cruces Legend Venue 

Halloween Estimated 2012-2013

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An attempt to save a dying art form

August 2021

Un essai à garder une forme artistique mourante 

Août 2021

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Foster Lake, Oregon, August 2019, 35 mm disposable camera snapshots

another mother, a poodle, a beautiful place

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The Brooklyn Bridge, 35 mm disposable camera, New York, NY, November 2018

An ecosystem that serves dreams. 

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September 2019, dear friends bought me a ticket for a dream pop band, Alvvays, at the Santa Fe opera, NM.

We didn’t just dance to dream pop, we were dream pop and I believe this 35 mm disposable snapshot captured it, even if was just a visual whisper of fashion, synth and hair. 

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A disposable camera 35 mm capture from my earlier times in Taos, NM, somewhere in 2017-2018. A small guerilla gallery in Arroyo Seco that sponsored artist, harbored creativity and had the occasional show. The digital scan did not translate well, but I love disposable cameras. There is a sense of play and childhood. As a product of the ‘90s there were many trips to the store with my mother where I begged and begged her to buy me a disposable camera. Most of my childhood pictures were captured in this format. As you hold one it truly seems like a toy, it’s got unflattering color combinations like inside a fast food chain, it’s plastic, the shutter button is hardly attached and the flash makes a resonant humming, medieval robotic noise. There’s the element of surprise as well. As a rather mediocre, point and shoot, factory produced product you have no control over exposure, focus or color. Without a little practice and experience you’ll often find out many pictures turned out rather indifferent, too bright, unfocused and when it’s too dark typically there will be no image at all. This snapshot was a treat, I wasn’t expecting an image, but light works in odd ways, the flash illuminated the drum and synthesizer creating reflection to lighten the subjects. Another pensive thing photography has taught me, even when you think there is no light, reflections can create just enough to pull you out of the darkness. Another mantra I try to use as a metaphor for the human experience. 

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A polaroid from simpler times, Las Cruces, NM.

Maybe it was an attempt to create something lovely from alcohol consumption. An attempt to disregard the unhealthy participation in excessive social drinking, a juxtaposition with blooms and candles. Maybe it was just college. Maybe it was a tracking system for wines and liquors I thoroughly enjoyed. Maybe it was an aesthetically pleasing way to arrange future recycling. Regardless this was my kitchen window, right before the sink. A glimpse of the free world from the domestic confinement of tedious house chores. I remember this house well. This was the first casita I began to escalate in life’s residential hierarchy as we all strive to in the life cycle of the human experience. Following the societal constructs of chasing paper, career, upgraded housing and a nuclear family. This was my first step into less cringe-worthy rental experiences. No longer molded duplexes, no more antiquated and possibly rotting carpet. There were wooden floors, the house was poorly maintained, but even as I’ve grown now, it met all my needs. Just because something isn’t taken care of never means it isn't special, it’s a philosophy I’ve developed, a mantra, care does not equate quality. There was a Pamela Anderson lightswitch cover in the living room. She was kneeling in heels and a thong, back-baring, blonde hair falling on it, looking over her shoulder. It was a suggestive and I wanted to join her, pursue a more risque lifestyle. There were salmon, teal and purple walls and beneath the paint creating texture were small rectangular strips diagonally arranged with immaculate spacing to create this kitschy and pop effect. I remember the smell of the dusty wood floors, the wooden bathroom as it expanded with steam from hot showers, the intense heat because there was a swamp cooler in one corner of the very front living area. Photos bring back vivid memories and reverie, this is why I shoot. 

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“You can cut all the flowers, but you can’t take away the spring.” Pablo Neruda

Antifascists flower cradle last spring 2019, Taos, NM

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Polaroid, the view from a friend’s house, Taos, NM May 2020.

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Polaroid, yucca, near the Rio Grande gorge bridge recreation area, Taos NM May 2020.

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Self portrait, age 19 December 2011 Las Cruces, NM

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The base of the Organ Mountains, Baylor Canyon, southern New Mexico

March 26, 2020

Full of thorns and stone

Plein des épines et pierre 

There is a runway of poppies

Il y a un chemin des coquelicots

To soften what is before us 

Pour adoucir ce qui est devant nous 

In love and nature

 À l’amour et la nature 

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Simpler times

December 2011, Las Cruces, NM

An older and grainy image, but I still really like it.

Annabelle Hayse and Andra Larson. 

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Mt. Shasta, California, March 18, 2020

On the road 

Sur le route

Across state lines 

Feu entre états

The forest, the snow, the landscape, the west

La fôret, la neige, le paysage, vers l’Ouest

The morning fog hides the mountains.

Le brouillard matinal cache les motagnes. 

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Akai Creature, July 2019, Lower Hondo Campground, Taos, NM 

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Sunshine Theatre, living room set for the Front Bottoms. #soundcheck #newmexico #balcony #balcone #nouveaumexique #music #musique #guitare #guitar #12feetdeep #frontbottoms