San Antonio is my former home, and still in many ways my photographic home. The history of the place always captured my interest. I've spent days at a time tramping around the old San Antonio Missions, toting the large-format camera and averaging two or three images per day. Getting those images on the web is a future project. For now, though, these digital images reflect a more recent swing through Texas.

The San Antonio Missions were established between 1720 and 1731, during the Spanish colonization of Texas. The first mission, San Antonio de Bexar (famous as the Alamo), is not so easy to photograph, but the other four missions are maintained as a National Historical Park and access is relatively easy. Even in the last ten years, though, many changes have taken place to accommodate visitors. Rough-hewn stone floors have been replaced in some cases with bricks, and a new Visitor Center at Mission San Jose moved traffic even further away. Much of what we see at the missions is a reconstruction. For example, San Jose's perimeter wall, which served as housing, is a reconstruction from Depression-era work programs. The tower of the San Jose chapel collapsed in 1891, and was rebuilt according to photographs that had been made (fortunately) using the same stones. The dome of Mission Concepcion has been rebuilt in the last ten years, but I'm happy to report that the hordes of fire ants that populate the field in front of  that mission are still in residence. The missions were built and expanded and then abandoned and allowed to fall into ruin, only to be saved by committed conservators from destruction. There is a reason the San Antonio Conservation Society is among the most well-known of its kind.

Photos uploaded April 4, 2005. Click on images to enlarge.

Pergola, Spanish Governor's Palace, 2004. Canon 10D, Zenitar 16mm fisheye. The Spanish Governor's Palace is an unassuming stone structure on San Antonio's Plaza de Armas, and its first portions were built as early as 1715. Spanish governors in colonial Texas lived modestly, except compared to their subjects, many of whom lived in primitive jacales made of sticks and mud up into the early 20th Century. The Palace now sits facing City Hall.

Well, Spanish Governor's Palace, 2004. Canon 10D, 20-35 at 20. 1/45 at f/8 (ISO 400).

Doorways, Spanish Governor's Palace, 2004. Canon 10D, 20-35 at 27. 1/6 at f/8 (ISO 400), handheld.

Dining Hall, Spanish Governor's Palace, 2004. Canon 10D, 20-35 at 20. 1/30 at f/4.5 (ISO 400).

Bedroom with Brazier, Spanish Governor's Palace, 2004. Canon 10D, 20-35 at 20. 1/4 at f/8 (ISO 400), handheld.

Holy Water, San Fernando Cathedral, San Antonio, 2004. Canon 10D, Zenitar 16mm fisheye. 1/3 second exposure, braced against column. San Fernando Cathedral is the diocesan church in San Antonio. The outer skin of the church was built in the 1880's, around the original sanctuario that was built in 1731. The cathedral sits on Main Plaza, also known as the Plaza de las Islas, or Islander's Square, after the Canary Islanders who colonized lands granted to them by the King of Spain in 1729. This church was Santa Anna's headquarters during the 1836 siege of the Alamo, which is about a mile to the east.

Bird Fountain, Southwest Crafts Center (formerly the Ursuline Academy, founded 1851), San Antonio, 2004. Canon 10D, 20-35 at 20. 1/1000 at f/4 (ISO 400).

Mission Concepcion and Thunder, San Antonio, 2004. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 24. 1/500 at f/11 (ISO 400).

Altar, Mission Concepsion, 2004. Sigma 12-24 at 12. 1/10 at f/5.6 (ISO 400).

Steps, Mission Concepcion, 2004. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 12. 1/30 at f/11 (ISO 400).

Leafy Fountain, King William Historic District, San Antonio, 2004. Canon 10D, 20-35 at 24. 1/30 at f/16 (ISO 400).

Mission San Jose Chapel, San Antonio, 2004. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 12. 1/750 at f/11 (ISO 400).

San Jose Convento Ruins, 2004. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 24. 1/350 at f/11 (ISO 800).

San Jose Sacristy Entrance, 2004. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 12. 1/30 at f/11 (ISO 400).

Sanctuary, Mission San Jose, 2004. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 12. 1/15 at f/8 (ISO 400).

Arbor, Mission San Jose, 2004. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 24. 1/45 at f/11 (ISO 800).

Cactus Flower, Mission San Jose, 2004. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 24. 1/750 at f/11 (ISO 400).

Mission San Jose, 2004. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 12. 1/750 at f/11 (ISO 400).

Mission San Juan Capistrano, San Antonio, 2004. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 24. 1/1500 at f/11 (ISO 800).

Native Plants, Mission San Juan, 2004. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 24. 1/125 at f/11 (ISO 400).

Campanile, Mission San Juan, 2004. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 12. 1/250 at f/11 (ISO 400).

Altar, Mission San Juan, 2004. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 12. 1 second at f/11 (ISO 400), braced on wall. San Juan missioners never finished their chapel (see the ruins of the half-finished walls below), and the parishioners worship in a barn that was used as a chapel from the first days of the mission.

San Juan and Ruins, 2004. Canon 10D, 70-200/4L at 75. 1/350 at f/11 (ISO 400).

Filled Flying Buttress, San Juan, 2004. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 12. 1/180 at f/11 (ISO 400).

Mission Espada, San Antonio, 2004. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 12. 1/1000 at f/11 (ISO 800).

Espada Aqueduct, San Antonio, 2004. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 12. 1/250 at f/11 (ISO 800). This is the oldest working aqueduct in the U.S., carrying the water of the Espada Acequia from its San Antonio River entrance upstream by the shallower path to the mission downstream. In this case, it had to cross a creek to get there.

Mission Espada's Famous Door. Canon 10D, Sigma 12-24 at 12. 1/1000 at f/11 (ISO 800).

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Copyright © 1999, 2009 R. W. Denney, Jr.
Last modified: November 23, 2009