Traube, Alex. Las Vegas, New Mexico: A Portrait. Photographs by Alex Traube. Text by E.A. Mares.

University of New Mexico Press, 1983. First Edition stated.  Wraps, fine, like new in custom-made 4-mil polyester jacket.  183 pages.  According to the introduction, "The essay that accompanies this book is intended as a docu-drama, using the  written word as one form of imaginative resonance to the photographs."  The photographs are printed in a deep violet brown tone and are in panoramic format, possibly taken with a Widelux camera. Summary:

Las Vegas, New Mexico: A Portrait (1986) is a collaborative "biography of a place" that juxtaposes the evocative, minimalist photography of Alex Traube with the lyrical, historical essays of E.A. Mares. The book captures the unique, often haunted atmosphere of a town that once rivaled Denver and El Paso in importance, but ultimately became a "time capsule" of New Mexican cultural convergence.

Core Themes and Narrative

• The Layered Identity: Mares’s text explores the "Triple Culture" of Las Vegas—Native American, Spanish Colonial, and Anglo-American. He frames the town not as a relic, but as a living palimpsest where Victorian mansions stand alongside adobe ruins.

• The Architecture of Memory: Traube’s photographs focus on the "bones" of the town. He ignores the neon of the "New" Las Vegas in favor of the quiet plazas and weathered storefronts of the old, capturing the tension between past glory and contemporary stagnation.

• The Persistence of Place: A major theme is "Querencia"—the deep, almost spiritual attachment to a specific landscape. The book argues that despite economic decline, the character of Las Vegas remains unshakeable due to its residents’ refusal to abandon their history.

Visual and Technical Notes

• Aesthetics: Alex Traube utilizes a "Quiet Aesthetic." His black-and-white images are characterized by a sense of profound stillness, often devoid of people, allowing the textures of stone, wood, and shadow to speak.

• Subtle Tonalities: The style is elegant and restrained. Unlike the aggressive contrast of some street photography, Traube employs a "Soft-Focus Clarity" that gives the buildings a ghostly, monumental presence, as if they are emerging from a dream.