New Mexico

The tiny town of Chilili, New Mexico is located about an hour southeast of Albuquerque. Within this unique cemetery there exists tombstones made of all manner of materials, included concrete, rebar, and chicken wire. Most notably, there are dozens of tombstones and memorial plaques created entirely of large sheets of tin, mounted on a variety of surfaces. This tin work was crafted by Horace McAfee, who is still venerated by the locals as a great artist. All of the wording on the tin was punched out laboriously with a nail, so that the holes form the letters. Some of the memorials are quite extensive, and there are one or two huge sheets that contain McAfee's poetic musings on the nature of the afterlife -- twenty or thirty lines in length. McAfee also erected some large tin cutouts of angels watching over the cemetery.

McAfee's tin angels @ cemetery entrance - Chilili, NM 10/2003
mcafee angels entrance chilili cemetery 2003
Mark Mora's grave-Chilili cemetery, NM 10-2003
mark mora grave chilili cemetery 2003
Grotto de Jesus-Chilili cemetery, NM 10-2003
grotto jesus chilili cemetery 2003
Eleanor McAfee's grave-Chilili cemetery, NM 10-200
eleanor mcafee grave chilili cemetery 2003
Trinidad Gutierrez' grave-Chilili cemetery, NM 10-2003.
trinidad gutierrez grave chilili cemetery 2003
close-up of family on cross-Chilili cemetery, NM 10-2003
family cross chilili cemetery 2003
Lori-Chilili cemetery, NM 10-2003
lori chilili cemetery 2003
Magdalena's marbles-Chilili cemetery, NM 10-2003
magdalena marbles chilili cemetery 2003
Jo-Ann's coop-Chilili cemetery, NM 10-2003
ann coop chilili cemetery 2003
fenced mound-Chilili cemetery, NM 10-2003
fenced mound chilili cemetery 2003
McAfee-Gutierrez memorial-Chilili cemetery, NM 10-2003
mcafee gutierrez memorial chilili cemetery 2003
McAfee's marker-Chilili cemetery, NM 10-2003
mcafee marker chilili cemetery 2003
pink flowers galore-Chilili cemetery, NM 10-2003
pink flowers galore chilili cemetery 2003
Mikey & Mickey-Chilili cemetery, NM 10-2003
mikey mickey chilili cemetery 2003
Gutierrez enclosure-Chilili cemetery, NM 10-2003
gutierrez enclosure chilili cemetery 2003
Fernando Torres, dad & Cowboys fan-Chilili cemetery, NM 10-2003
fernando torres dad cowboys fan chilili cemetery 2003
red sandstone walls of Quarai pueblo ruins, off NM-55, near Punta del Agua, New Mexico
Quarai chimney ruins-central NM 10-2003
Brian & Tamara @ Quarai ruins, New Mexico
elevations, Quarai ruins, near Punta del Agua, New Mexico
Stairway to Heaven, Quarai ruins, New Mexico
Brian & Tamara, heads & shoulders above the rest @ Quarai ruins
Quarai ruins facade in Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument
Quarai ruins facade in Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, central New Mexico
Quarai Pueblo Mission ruins in the Estancia Valley, central New Mexico 10-2003

RoverExposures Photography

New Mexico