Lone Rider

This is perhaps one of my most iconic images, certainly of my work on the American West. If I have one single image that kind of sums up my feeling about the American West it is probably this picture. Wide open spaces, men and horses. Solitude.
It’s a picture made while actually travelling to another area of work, riding in the back of somebody’s pickup. It was during one of my very infrequent commercial assignments back when Marlboro cigarettes were still big into using the American cowboy and the west as their signature theme. Our crew of myself, my assistant and an art director from the ad agency and a representative of the client (Marlboro) were all in the pickup as we bumped along across the open plains of West Texas when I looked out and saw the ranch owner riding his horse hard and fast in the near distance to us. I don’t think I made more than a frame or two as we continued and yet is has become one of perhaps my most iconic images. It’s a simple picture. One solitary rider seen slightly off center frame, crossing the golden plains with some rugged hills and bluffs in the distance, all under an almost cloudless, vast blue Texas sky. It was not made for the commercial. It was simply made by me because I saw it and it seemed the most natural thing to do to record it. It’s an image that has been used a number of times for commercial purposes but it wasn’t intended to be. For the record, my commercial work has never amounted to much, I’ve done relatively little, especially in regard to a subject I always thought I’d be good for—the cowboy and the American West. But in truth, so often what one knows and can depict honestly and accurately, isn’t always what the commercial clients seem to want. And I’ve never been too good at making things up. Staging it. But I like to think I’ve managed to show the real thing really well. In the real world, however, the money isn’t always where the real thing resides and that’s the rub. I’m not complaining, just reminiscing from experience.

This flash sale print is a 6” x 9” image on a 9” x 11” paper. It is an archival ink jet print on archival watercolor paper. It is signed in graphite pencil on the front border. It is a perfect gift for a young aspiring photographer or for anyone who loves photography. At a price of only $100.00 it is a bargain not to pass up. All prints are shipped via USPS priority mail. Please be advised that all international custom fees apply and is the responsibility of the buyer to determine those charges. Prints are expected to ship 2-3 weeks from order date.