Texas Rangeland

This series of photographs began on a trip to Marathon, Texas, near Big Bend in 1995. I was on a lonely stretch of highway between Marathon and Marfa and a big Brahma Bull was standing near the road behind a barb wire fence. He was just standing there as if waiting for me. I drove past him for about a mile and then surprised myself by turning around.

I say that I surprised myself because to this point in my life as an artist I had only looked at the most abstract, subtle, metaphoric, and “spiritual” subject matter to photograph. Bulls were definitely not included. Nevertheless, I went back and began a journey that shaped my future life.

The Bull and Cow presented something different to me. I see incredible form in their bodies. Forms can go beyond what they seem into something that strikes a deep chord within me. It is as if the form itself is a portal into an unknown place within that I feel compelled to look at. It is not only form but texture, light, and a moment in time that I look at. I have allowed myself to be captured by these things. And, when I surrender, much is revealed to me. I’m in awe of their sweetness, frailty, bravado, strength, and monumentality. I hope others will have the same experience when they look at this series and my book, Texas Rangeland, that the University of Texas Press published in 2002.

click on image to enlarge