Silent Witnesses: Exploring the Hidden Histories of Abandoned Locations in New Mexico

Bridget Harrington

Michael Moore

Historic Photojournalists

What started as a project to explore New Mexico has grown into a quest to create compelling images of little-known places in the state and share the stories behind them. After starting with an old-school road map, Michael Moore has now spent almost 3,000 hours researching and creating a Google Earth map – with layers of settlements, mines, old rail lines and wagon paths – that they use for navigation. Bridget Harrington uses out-of-print books and maps, cemetery records, and newspapers to create narratives that make history real and relatable.

Most of the sites Michael and Bridget document are long abandoned. They uncover little-known locations, then dig through many sources to find information and personal stories about these communities and their former inhabitants. Once they locate and research ruins, Michael and Bridget visit and photograph the sites.

In this lecture, Michael and Bridget will share six New Mexico settlements they have photographed and researched, and what they have learned about the lives of the people who lived and worked in these now abandoned places. 

Bridget Harrington and Michael Moore are photographers and history enthusiasts who are passionate about the hidden history of the great state of New Mexico. Both are lifelong photographers who don’t make their living from photography. Bridget is a marketing communications and visual arts professional, and Michael is an industrial sales engineer and small engine pilot. For the past eight years, they have roamed across New Mexico and documented their photography expeditions on Facebook at NM Byways and on Instagram at @enchantedbywaysphoto.