NMSU Archives and Special Collections purchase works of beloved alumnus photographer Sterling Trantham

From his early calling to images at age 14 to international journeys by means of Kuwait, northern Mexico’s Copper Canyon and Guatemala’s Mayan heartland, Sterling Trantham constructed a profession of fearless storytelling by means of his lenses. Now, his life’s work – spanning a long time as an artist, mentor, and buddy – will likely be preserved at New Mexico State University’s Archives and Special Collections, returning to the campus the place his journey started.  
 
Trantham, an award-winning documentary photographer and longtime school educator handed away Feb. 21. He battled liver most cancers and associated sickness with resilience and style for practically a decade, forsaking a legacy rooted in visible storytelling, mentorship and an everlasting inventive spirit.  
 
“Sterling had reverence for living and his time on earth,” stated Amy Thompson West, Trantham’s accomplice. “He had reverence for the camera and his gifts as a photographer. He had reverence for the opportunities, despite the adversities that had beset him, that his talent had brought him. And he had a special reverence for certain moments in time that he beautifully translates into Sterling pixels for us to pour over – clouds rolling in on a storm’s wind, his best friend Lucy idling in a sunny meadow, and, especially, the indigenous Mayan peoples.”  

“We are honored that Sterling’s photographic legacy will likely be housed right here within the NMSU Archives, preserved and made obtainable for researchers and severe college students of the artwork of documentary images,” stated Dennis Daily, division head of the NMSU Library Archives and Special Collections. “Sterling’s photography is on par with the best documentary work out there. He was a master craftsman with a broad knowledge of contemporary and historic photographic practice that he brought to bear in his own work. He drew inspiration not only from great photography, but also literature, art, music, and spiritual pursuits.”  
 
Trantham started his journey at NMSU the place he earned his bachelor’s diploma in individualized research in images and cinematography in 1979. While nonetheless in school, he launched his profession as a photojournalist.  

“He worked his way through undergraduate school, contributing news photos to various local newspapers,” Thompson West stated. “Then, following completion of his first bachelor’s, Sterling headed to Kuwait where he worked as a cinematographer for a firm producing branding shorts for high-end clientele such as Mercedes Benz.”  
 
Returning to New Mexico, between 1979 and 1985, Trantham labored as a employees photographer for the Las Cruces Sun-News, Las Cruces Bulletin and Roswell Daily Record. He additionally freelanced and was a contracted photographer for the Associated Press. His work appeared in main publications together with The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, London Today and Sports Illustrated.  

In 1990, he earned his second bachelor’s diploma in journalism and mass communications, adopted by a grasp’s diploma in images in 1998, each from NMSU. He labored as photographer for NMSU’s University Communications workplace from 1986 to 1995 and was well-known throughout campus. Trantham taught photojournalism and documentary images to tons of of scholars at NMSU and El Paso Community College till 2022. A National Geographic Faculty Fellow and recipient of the Willard Van Dyke Memorial Grant in Documentary Photography, he additionally earned quite a few nationwide and worldwide honors and was acknowledged by the Santa Fe Center for Visual Arts for excellence in photographic educating.  

“Sterling shared stories of students he taught at NMSU and EPCC who went on to live successful lives as photographers, journalists, communicators, teachers, writers and extraordinary individuals in whatever their pursuit,” Thompson West stated. “He was driven to encourage all his students to achieve their potential and to recognize how special they are, ambitions aside, in simply who they are.”  

Pamela Porter, a former NMSU journalism professor and shut buddy of practically 30 years who labored alongside Trantham in University Communications, mirrored on his affect.  
 
“Sterling shared his passion and technique with hundreds of students, inspiring many who went on to careers in photojournalism and commercial photography” Porter stated. “His classes were demanding, but he encouraged students to aim high – getting their work published, preparing professional portfolios, and striving for excellence. I’m gratified that his work will be preserved at NMSU’s Archives, where it will continue to inspire new generations.”

One of Trantham’s most treasured tasks took him to the highlands of Guatemala, the place he immersed himself in native rituals and traditions. His dedication to documenting the favored non secular and cultural expressions of recent Mayan individuals turned a defining chapter in his profession.  
 
Many of the photographs now preserved at NMSU’s Archives and Special Collections embrace his square-format, black-and-white work produced together with his beloved Hasselblad digital camera.  

“At first, I thought some of his photos would read better in color, given that on the surface Mayan culture and ceremony are rich in vibrant color,” Thompson West stated. “I found that his color work, as he told me it would, distracted from the deep solemnity of indigenous life and beliefs. Sterling rightly intuited that revealing that solemnity, as only black and white can do, is the only way to give proper reverence to the Mayan.”  

Thompson West added that Trantham returned to Guatemala 16 occasions over 20 years, spending days or even weeks at a time among the many individuals. “He earned their respect by investing time and effort to truly know their commonplace practices, family circles, and rituals,” she stated. “He learned that his photographs are an intimate portrayal. When his camera moved into the open, seeking light, villagers – some now friends – opened their faces, homes and temples to him without reservation or pretense.”  

While his work stays preserved and untouched, the influence of his artistry lives on in each picture. In a letter to those that knew him, Thompson West shared certainly one of Trantham’s most private reflections – a favourite {photograph} that includes two brown horses in entrance and middle, whereas a white horse wanders alone within the distance, heading in one other path.  

“Over the past few months, he spent time with that photograph. He studied the white horse. One day, not long before his passing, he said, ‘I realize that the white horse is me. I am the white horse.’ And he is,” Thompson West stated. “He left but is not gone. He will never be gone because he is with us in spirit and through his work.”