Robert Burkey — New Mexico Circles (1990)

What this book is

Robert Burkey's New Mexico Circles is a photographic survey of ten places in northern New Mexico, paired with brief textual notes and a hand-drawn map of the area. Burkey was a New York-based photographer who self-published the book through his own imprint, Written/Visual Images, Inc., in White Plains. The original prints were also offered for sale through the publisher (signed and matted at mid-range prices, framed at mid-range collectible prices plus a few dollars shipping), which was the small-press business model of the era — the book served as a portfolio brochure as well as a standalone object.

The Bandelier National Monument photograph — "Winding Path at Bandelier National Monument," shown in the gallery below — is representative of the format: a single black-and-white image opposite a brief text passage describing the place, with a small map locating it in the regional geography. The book is a quiet, slowly-paced photographic survey rather than a coffee-table show piece.

Why it matters

Burkey's book is the kind of small-run regional photography title that doesn’t have a famous photographer's reputation behind it but does have a specific audience — collectors of NM regional photography, travel writers researching northern NM, and people who want a quietly observed portrait of the places this book covers. Copies tend to surface in the libraries of NM travelers, photographers, and gallery owners; once they surface they tend to move quickly to the next collector who's been looking for one.

Multi-part bibliographic record

How it came in

Donated in May 2026 through NMLP. Donor scenario anonymized.

Where it's going

NM-photography-collector channel. Likely buyer: a private collector of regional NM photography or a Santa Fe/Taos gallery looking for shelf inventory of small-press regional titles.