My memory of the rodeo is soundtracked by the clanging of the pen gates, as the animals brush against them, as the riders steady themselves. That sound, interwoven with the roar of the crowd, with the rodeo’s annoucer, Gus, on the mic, infused my experience with a raw excitement I missed as soon as it was gone.

I went to the second annual 8 Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo not exactly knowing what I wanted to photograph. I consider myself a portrait photographer…but...I knew I didn’t want to take portraits of the crowd, didn’t really want to take portraits of the riders. I wanted novelty, from myself most of all, so I focused less on faces, and more on action, on the energy of the rodeo.

The organizers were kind enough to give us all-access, let me get right up to the stalls as the bulls waited, as the riders prepared themselves, and as much as I enjoyed hearing and feeling the excitement of the crowd, being right there looking a bull in the eye, witnessing that period when a rider is cinching themselves to a saddle, ah, that’s what I was looking for.

A great event, easy to get drunk on the joy of it, of the riders, of the crowd, I can easily see how a photographer of cowboys became an organizer of rodeos…it’s an environment that quickly stokes passion.

(thank you to Ivan McClellan and 8 Seconds Rodeo for their kindness and hospitality...and for letting me get so goddamn close to the riders and animals)