Artist Journal Entry:
This concept has been on my mind for quite some time. In west Texas near the town of Valentine, is an art installation along the highway resembling a Prada retail store. It has become quite popular among social media and visitors passing by on their way to Marfa. I have driven past this place over a dozen times, and every time I do, there is always a group of people taking photos in front of it. Most of them usually dressed up in cowgirl boots, hats, and other western-related items. It has become quite the spot to stop at. My goal for this artwork was to honor the men and women who grew up in this area and still ranch throughout the surrounding valleys. In this case, I captured two friends of mine who I just spent the day before with on a ranch just south of this spot. I wanted to photograph them in a way as if they just rode up on horseback from working on a nearby pasture. Covered in sweat and dirt but full of life. Two women who had spent every day for ten days straight under the sun working cattle, bruised and sore, yet never seen without a smile and a joke to go along with it. The respect, humility, and joy these two shared, is hard to come by in today's society. In a society that worships luxury lifestyles, material items, and false idols, they are the true icons we should be praising.