Photography by David Ondrik

I’ve been asked to write reviews for photo-eye books. I’m just finishing my first one on Derek Henderson’s “Mercy Mercer.” Look for it soon!

A number of years ago I found a copy of The Business of Fancydancing, the book that established Sherman Alexie as one of the major lyric voices of our times, at the local used book store. Therein I eventually came across the poem “At Navajo Monument Valley Tribal School,” with the subtitle, “from the photograph by Skeet McAuley.” I’d never head of Skeet McAuley, but I did find the photo in question on the above web site. There’s not much information on McAuley on the Internet, and these days, that’s the standard way to find out about things. So I gave up finding out much more about him.

"Navajo window washer, Monument Valley Tribal Park, Arizona, 1984" Skeet McAuley

In February 2010, I was invited to a photography dinner party. The hostess has an amazing collection in her home, including a large print of “Navajo Monument Valley Tribal School near Goulding, Utah,” which is the complete title of McAuley’s image. Of all the great photography on her walls, it was clear that most of her guests don’t recognize or comment on that image, at least anymore. I quickly found myself seated on a couch with a copy of McAuley’s book, Sign Language, in my hands. It was published by the Aperture Foundation in 1989. Of course, since it was a dinner party, I didn’t spend too long looking it over. I did find the photos of the Navajo Reservation  compelling, and relatively contemporary.

"Apache women grading lumber at tribal mill, White River, Arizona, 1985" by Skeet McAuley

So the book lodged in my head and I eventually went to the University of New Mexico Fine Arts Library to look for it. It’s not there. Yup, the Fine Arts Library, which actually has two copies of the Extended Document catalog (another mild obsession of mine), doesn’t have an Aperture monograph from 1989. Instead, it can be found over at the main University library, Zimmerman. Not in a photography section, but the Native American Studies section. Although glad to have found a copy, I was disappointed that the art institution appears to have declined the book.

"Buffalo along Interstate 70 near Golden, Colorado, 1982" by Skeet McAuley

And this sent me to wondering what happened to Skeet McAuley? Having Aperture print a book of your work seems like a pretty impressive measure of success. But then what? McAuley has a web site, but it hasn’t been updated since 2001. You won’t find much with a Google Image Search and his previous collectors will apparently be surprised if you recognize his work. Amazon is selling Sign Language for somewhere between $2 and $35, which is awesome because it’s a great book, but bad from a different standpoint. So, of course, I’m not sure what happened to Skeet McAuley.

"Apache drummer after Sunrise Ceremony, White River, Arizona, 1985" by Skeet McAuley

But I am sure that when Sign Language was printed, McAuley couldn’t predict that his photograph would inspire a genius poet to write about wild horses. And that in turn would cause a high school photography teacher to use these works as part of his lesson plans. Which would further some curiosity about a now obscure photographer, causing at least one person to rediscover this body of work.

"Overlooking coal conveyor toward Navajo Mountain from Black Mesa, Arizona, 1985" by Skeet McAuley

You can never know the route your work will take to fresh eyes; the important thing is to just keep making it. The truth is out there.