This negative was taken by Winter Prather (1926-2005) at the "Adobe Acre," the Prather family home in Taos, New Mexico. The image depicts the home's interior decorated for Christmas. A fire burns in the adobe fire place. A metal cross, a vase of flowers, and a candle sit on the mantle. Exposed wooden beams are visible on the ceiling. Woven southwestern rugs lay on the floor. A Christmas tree decorated with tinsel and ornaments is visible on the left side of the image frame. Five of Adobe Acre's many resident cats are lounge in the room. Two sit on either side of fire place while two perch on a couch in the lower right corner of the image. A fifth cat is located by a long curtain that hangs on the wall opposite of the Christmas tree. The cat's movements are blurs due to the camera's low shutter speed.
Winter Phillips Prather (1926-2005) was a prominent commercial and fine art photographer who worked in Denver, Colorado and Taos, New Mexico during the mid 20th Century. Due to the physical and mental illnesses that Prather suffered later in his life, many images in the collection were not initially labeled with dates, subjects, or locations. Photographs that have been dated and identified were taken between 1940 and 1978 primarily in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. Images in the collection demonstrate Prather's mastery of diverse photographic genera’s. Non-representational abstracts, industrial images, western landscapes, portraits, still-lifes, and art reproductions can all be found among Prather's photogrpahs. In addition, the collection also contains Prather's experimental work with reverse negative printing, composite images, and solarization. This photograph is part of the Winter Prather collection (Ph.00332)