Kendall Nelson (Photographer),
by Felicitas Funke-Riehle (text),
Gretel Ehrlich (Introduction), Clint Eastwood (foreword)

The cowboy and his environment are among the most evocative, enigmatic, and surprisingly romantic icons of the American experience. Though considered an anachronistic occupation, the cowboy survives, and contemporary cowboy life is masterfully revealed in this new book of large-format duotone photographs. The apparent isolation of life on the range is balanced by the pride the cowboys exude in their work, and in the tightly bound communities in which they live and operate.

Gathering Remnants presents a world ruled by tradition and a strong ingrained work ethic, which fires our imagination and connects us to our own primal needs for rugged individualism. What makes this book unique is the photographers ability to capture the authenticity and solidarity of the cowboys worldvast, flat rangeland that is striking in its subtle beauty.

Take a visual tour of the book at: www.cowboybook.com

For generations, the mystique of the working cowboy is something that many photographers have sought to capture on film. For her first book, Gathering Remnants, photographer Kendall Nelson has teamed up with writer Felicitas Funke-Riehle, producing a stunning collection of stark imagery that stands as a genuine tribute to the cowboy.

When I started photographing the cowboys I choose black and white very much on purpose because its traditional, as are the cowboys, and it feels very old to me. What I like about the images in the book is that they are sort of timeless and classic.

Nelson attended San Francisco State, and says her interest in photography was inspired by a teacher there. After graduating with a degree in art, Nelson studied at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, then later moved to Los Angeles where she worked for Fox Television as a segment producer and assistant director.

In 1996, she returned to photography. Having a deep interest in documenting the working cowboy, she arranged to visit the Long X Ranch in Texas for a month.

The fact that they let me go with them out on the chuckwagon was a pretty big deal. Theres never really been any women out there, says Nelson.

Nelson spent the next three-and-a-half years photographing the images for the Gathering Remnants. With her dog Jake by her side, she traveled to remote ranches in Wyoming, Texas, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho capturing the cowboy life in black and white.

They were all really good about letting me be a part of it, says Nelson. Even though during the branding I didnt hold a branding iron, I was right there, and if a cow escaped and I was the one on horseback closest to it I would get it back into the centers of things.

Often times at the end of each visit the cowboss would refer Nelson to a cowboss in another state and with little more than a thirty-second phone introduction, she would pack up her equipment and journey to the next shoot.

Nelson photographed cowboys at work in all types of country, through all seasons, including a calving season in Nevada during the winter. Perhaps what sticks in her mind the most from the experience is that the harsh reality of life is a something the working cowboy must deal with on a daily basis, even if it means shooting coyotes to protect newborn calves. I think what they do is necessary, and I think of the cowboys as caretakers, but some of it is a little bit brutal, a little difficult to be a part of, but all very necessary.

There were hardships, though, Nelson adds, recalling what it was like to ride during the brutal cold of winter. Everybody was just freezing to death. The horses had icicles hanging off their chins, the cowboys had icicles hanging off their mustaches. It was so cold that I just stayed in the back of the pack of the cowboys, tied my reins around the horn and stuck my hands up under the saddle blanket while my horse just followed them at a trot.

The experience of living and working in isolated cow camps tends to have a peculiar effect on people. Upon her return home to Sun Valley, Idaho, Nelson was struck with a new appreciation for the rugged life of the cowboy. You come home with such a culture shock that youre almost upset with what you have and where you live, she admits. The life on these ranches is so much more real, the people seem more real. The simplicity of that kind of life is romantic. Theres a big part of me that thinks the cowboy way of life is the better way of life.

Her photography stands as proof of that.

Copyright ©2001.
American Western Magazine.
All Rights Reserved.
Duplication not permitted.