“Photographer Craig Varjabedian spent 45 years creating the photos for The Light of Days Gone By, capturing light-filled images from the glowing red hills of Ghost Ranch to the white dunes of White Sands and other locales. Reminiscent of the works of Andrew Wyeth, Grant Wood or John Singer Sargent, but with a more powerful nature focus, The Light of Days Gone By is an outstanding synthesis of color and New Mexican landscapes and peoples, and is a highly recommended pick for arts and American history holdings alike.

Curator Cindy Lane provides an equally compelling essay introducing her thirty-plus years of professional relationship with this photographer and how she worked with galleries and museums across the country to foster and display his works. She’s seen almost every photograph he’s ever made, assisted on many shoots, and navigates the world of art exhibitions with an eye to promoting one of the most captivating photographers of modern times.

Her essay, along with the insights of others, compliments these color images, which serve as a testimony to Craig Varjabedian’s long-term career and the evolution of many themes in the process of his photographic endeavors and exhibitions.

Myra Bullington’s essay is another powerful note that lends further insights into his art and her relationship with it.

The juxtaposition of black and white and color images, one to a page and in a good size for excellent resolution and impact, along with the arrangement of these pieces to reflect their evolving power and subjects, is simply exquisite.

Discriminating arts and history holdings seeking exceptional—even extraordinary—works should make The Light of Days Gone By a mainstay and cornerstone acquisition for their collections.”

“It’s part of the thing that gets me up in the morning, the possibility that I could make another picture. That the experience starts to approach something miraculous. I sense that there’s this large piece still missing in my wholeness, so I make pictures as a way of trying to find that completeness. It’s the opportunity of possibly making a profound connection with the world and whatever it is I’m trying to photograph. ”

“Craig Varjabedian has been conducting a visual symphony of New Mexico for 36 years. Among moonlit moradas, horse silhouettes and sand-cast shadows, the photographer has crafted measure after measure in a palette of color and light.”

““Marlene is just one of more than 100 stunning photographs by Santa Fe photographer Craig Varjabedian. But her words above capture the essence of his project. “I think the thing I am tapping into — and what I want to do is share their voice — is this duality between the past and the present,” Varjabedian said. “Almost channeling their rich Native American past when they are in front of my camera.” Many Native Americans who have been separated from their heritage are seeking to rebuild their cultural identity and regain their power over how they are represented, he said . . . ”