Santa Fe and the surrounding area has had a huge impact on my photography and my appreciation for art, and O'Keefe is one of the purest expressions of that aesthetic (IMHO).
The age of the city, and the monochromatic base materials used in building punctuated by bright blue, red and orange accents and dark shadows form an extremely unique palette. Most people (or at least most photographers) are familiar with the spread of reds and oranges of the American Southwest set against a brilliant blue sky, but Santa Fe, Taos, and the rest of the northern New Mexico towns take that palette and boil it down into a much simpler, almost abstract, representation of the earth and sky translated into dwellings that could be a year old, or 500 years old.
It's just about my favorite place in the world.
To your point, Rob, that it's comparatively harder to simplify like that with a camera, that's certainly true - but I will say that the architecture and tonality of the area, and the historic building style that's still a mainstay today makes it easier that you might expect. I'm not at my production machine at the moment, but I'll try and show a few of my Santa Fe images that reflect that sometime this weekend.