Question of Power : Doodá Desert rock Project

In 2004 Navajos were voting in opposition to a new power plant on the Navajo Nation in the Four Corners area of the Southwest, an area where over 13 million pounds of chemical toxins are released into the air each year by existing coal powered power plants.  Living in the shadow of the nation’s dirtiest power plants the Diné suffered from respiratory disease and cancer from the pollution-laden air, soil, and water.  The documentary project followed three Navajo women creating a visual voice for halting the plant.

Between 2004 to 2011, we created photographs and video interviews that documented opposition to the proposed Desert Rock power plant on the Navajo (Diné) Nation near Farmington, New Mexico. The power plant construction was officially cancelled in 2011 due to widespread public opposition, falling electricity demands, and uncertainties surrounding climate change legislation.  It would also have increased greenhouse gas pollution and regional haze and polluted the local communities’ land and water. Desert Rock, a 1500-megawatt coal-fired power plant, would have become the nation’s sixth-largest carbon emitter.   The body of work was used by the Navajo Women in legal litigation to halt the building of Desert Rock Power Plant.

 Forty photographs, video stories and audio interviews with Diné people are presented in an exhibition at the Palace of the Governors, New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe, NM opening  April 19, 2026 through June 27. 2027.