On tap in Albuquerque is an exhibit of fine art photography that offers a unique perspective and showcases the work of one of the most gifted members of New Mexico’s Italian community. Unseen Route 66 features the photos of Donatella Davanzo and allows us to experience Albuquerque’s 20-mile stretch of the Mother Road through her eyes.

We often get so accustomed to our surroundings that we disconnect and don’t really see them any longer. This is what Unseen Route 66 is all about.

As a Cultural Anthropologist, Donatella’s primary focus lies in the relationship between landscape and community, in the stories that the landscape tells about the people and the culture that created and inhabit it. Buildings, both vacant and occupied, empty spaces where buildings once stood, signage, artifacts, monuments – all reflect the Route 66 community’s values, history, interests and culture. In this exhibit, all tell their stories through photography which, Donatella notes, “is a special, expressive language all its own.”

Donatella’s fluency in the language of photography has been celebrated, awarded and exhibited both in her native Italy and here in the US. Her photographic narrative of Route 66 (7,500 images strong) forms a part of the collection at the University of New Mexico’s Center for Southwest Research. It is also the basis for her doctoral dissertation thru the Department of American Studies at UNM.

Unseen Route 66 runs from Saturday September 30, with an opening reception from 4 – 8 PM, through Wednesday October 11, at The Artistic Image Gallery at 1101 Cardenas, NE (near Lomas and San Pedro) in Albuquerque. It’s definitely worth a visit to reconnect with Route 66 – to see and “hear” the stories of The Mother Road masterfully told through the camera lens of this accomplished New Mexico Italian.