Still: Cowboys at the Start of the Twenty-First Century

By Marianne Wiggins and Robb Kendrick

The cowboy may well be the quintessential American icon. Robb Kendrick has been photographing cowboys for twenty-five years, creating a magnificent artistic record that recalls the work of earlier photographers such as Edward S. Curtis, whose portraits of Native Americans have become classics. Kendrick even uses an early photographic process--tintype--to create one-of-a-kind photographs whose nineteenth-century appearance underscores how little twenty-first-century cowboys' ways of working and types of gear and dress have changed since the first cowboy photographs were made more than a century ago.

In Still, Robb Kendrick presents an eloquent collection of tintype cowboy photographs taken on ranches across fourteen states of the American West, as well as in British Columbia, Canada, and Coahuila, Mexico. The photographs reveal the rich variety of people who are drawn to the cowboying life--women as well as men; Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and African Americans as well as Anglos. The images also show regional variations in dress and gear, from the "taco" rolled-brim hats of Texas cowpunchers to the braided rawhide reatas of Oregon buckaroos. Marianne Wiggins, author of a recent novel about Edward S. Curtis, introduces the volume, and Jay Dusard, a photographer renowned for his cowboy images, provides the afterword. Robb Kendrick tells the backstory of the project in his photographer's notes, while also interweaving stories from the cowboys themselves among the images.

Both an evocative work of art and a masterful documentary record, Still honors the resilience of modern cowboys as they bring traditional ways of living on the land into the twenty-first century.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0292714386
• ISBN13: 9780292714380
• Release Date: February 2008
• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Length: 232 Pages
• Weight: 2.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 8.2" x 10.1"

Customer Reviews

Thank you

Its good to hear so many people are really getting the feel of what life out here is like. My name is Nate Patterson and I'm in the book. Robb came to Spanish Ranch, in Tusscarrora, Nevada while I was Jigger Boss. Its good to hear that so many people can really look deeply at what a real cowboy's eyes hold. Many photographers come to the ranches and try to capture the "cowboy life" but Robb did an excelent job.

true craftsmanship

Still is not simply a book of cowboy tintypes. This book has depth as it is filled with revealing portraits of cowboys created with an antiquated process that requires true craftsmanship. Because each tintype is crafted by hand (and beautifully done), they each have unique and unreplicable characteristics analogous to the portraits of the cowboys themselves. In additon to the craftsmanship, there's an impressive amount of these portraits with each subsequent one being just as interesting as the previous. Accompanying the portraits are several stories from the cowboys that add a more personal element to the book. Still is a beautifully executed book of tintype cowboy portraits that I highly recommend to anyone.

Spectacular Imagery

I have always been fascinated with old world photographic processes. After browsing through the book several times I was struck with the portraits themselves. While these portraits were recently done you easily get the feel that these cowboys are from a time gone by. An incredible way of life incredibly captured by a talented photographer

Beautiful

Beyond the beautiful photographs the piercing eyes in these portraits tell it all. These cowboys and cowgirls are serious about what they do and how they do it. Serious about living life to the fullest on their own terms. I must be honest and tell you I am not a big fan of cowboy photography or any photography that romanticizes a culture or group of people. Pretty pictures are a dime a dozen and mean little in the understanding of the people being photographed. Think current day celebrity portraiture. These portraits show dedication to documenting a people and way of life long forgotten by modern day Americans. I think you will feel the spirit of these people when you look at these tintypes and read the stories of the cowboys in their own words. This book belongs in any serious collection of the American West way of life.

Beautiful!

I ordered this book after hearing an interview with the author/photographer on NPR. Captured in the spirit of yesteryear, these photographs of modern cowboys are just beautiful!