Heather Duenas, “Neon Silence,” Digital Photography, 2025
NIGHT CREATURES
after Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, 1942
Saxon Burns
The dark’s shoulder leans hard
into the beaming face of the diner.
There’s steady silence in this unconscious city,
broken only by the stutters of a great-horned owl.
The woman sitting at the counter fingers
a gob of greenbacks, or is it a leafy sandwich,
or is it a pack of Lucky Strikes before they
bleached them like bones? (Something
about needing inks for camouflage.) Her fella,
baritone gravel and grinding, muffles a cough
between observations to the busboy
about the war, his hand nearly touching hers
for the first time that night. She watches him
sip his cigarette. He’s too old to fight, she thinks,
but I wish he danced. Earlier, he had watched her
from a dusky corner, visible to her as a penumbra
of smoke orbiting a pinprick of fire,
while she jitterbugged and Lindy Hopped.
Afterward, he hankered for an automat
serving runny banana-cream pie,
while she wanted Childs’ restaurant for the pre-dawn
parliament of artists and writers. So they settled
on the diner across from her place.
Where she’s sitting, she can see the rich
light in her bedroom window, spilling like sauce.
A copy of Life magazine expects her there.
Maybe he’ll want to come up for a nightcap.
But I’m not lonely, she thinks, peering
into the bare street—it’s not particularly lonely.
Heather Duenas, “Boorish,” Digital Photography, 2026
TUCSON
Saxon Burns
Where monsoon rain drives alleycats
beneath cars and sends people into flooded, satin streets,
giddy yet reverent over their great fortune at being alive,
soapy petrichor suggesting clean starts as washes
channel teeming lifeblood.
Where Philip Walsted used to stroll.
Where the congresswoman was shot in 2011.
Where the maple aroma of sweet everlasting
must be a balm to javelina. As always, needles
and the fruit of the strawberry cactus.
Heather Duenas is a Phoenix-based photographer, creative entrepreneur, and current student at Phoenix College pursuing an AAS in Photography. Originally from Guam, Heather draws deep inspiration from her island roots, blending warmth, nostalgia, and natural light into her visual storytelling. Her work often explores emotion, identity, and quiet in between moments that might otherwise go unnoticed.
With a background in both digital and film photography, Heather values intentionality in her process. Whether shooting on her Sony mirrorless system or her Pentax K1000 film camera, she is drawn to texture, contrast, and the relationship between subject and environment. Her creative interests extend beyond photography to interior design, architecture, and branding, influencing her strong sense of composition and aesthetic balance.
Heather has a strong passion for traveling and learning from different cultures, which continues to shape her creative perspective. She enjoys working closely with people and building genuine connections through her work, whether with clients, collaborators, or classmates. Outside of photography, she finds creativity and comfort in cooking and preparing meals for others, and in traveling to broaden her perspective and draw inspiration from different cultures.
Heather is also the founder of Heather Lens Photography, where she works with families, couples, and small businesses to create timeless imagery rooted in authenticity. She believes that photography is less about perfection and more about presence.
Through her academic work and personal projects, Heather continues to refine her voice as an artist while remaining grounded in community and culture. Her goal is to create imagery that feels both intimate and enduring. Photographs that hold memory, mood, and movement all at once.
Instagram: @heathers_lens
Saxon Burns is a silversmith, photographer and poet living in Phoenix.
RISE 