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One Photographer Is On A Quest To Spotlight The Culture of Black Cowboys
CULTURE
ONE PHOTOGRAPHER IS ON A QUEST TO SPOTLIGHT THE CULTURE OF BLACK COWBOYS
23rd July 2021 by BOTWC Staff
It's a mission he doesn't take lightly.
This photographer is on a quest to spotlight the culture of Black cowboys.
Ivan McClellan is a Portland-based photojournalist and designer and the creator of "Eight Seconds," a photography project dedicated to showcasing the culture of Black cowboys. His work has been featured in ESPN, The Undefeated, Dazed, Complex, and Because Of Them We Can, and he has no plans on slowing down anytime soon. It all started in 2015 with McClellan connected with a friend who was working on a documentary about Black cowboys. That friend invited McClellan to attend a rodeo with him, and he agreed, not knowing anything about the rich history or what he was about to get himself into.
"I went, I don't know why I did. It was just the right opportunity for me. I was in Portland, Oregon, which is a very white city, and the opportunity to go and be around Black folks just sounded really good to me," McClellan told BOTWC.
When he arrived at that rodeo in 2015 in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the Kansas City native saw what could only be described as magical. Thousands of Black cowboys. None of them looked like the traditional ones he had previously seen in the movies.
{snip}
ONE PHOTOGRAPHER IS ON A QUEST TO SPOTLIGHT THE CULTURE OF BLACK COWBOYS
23rd July 2021 by BOTWC Staff
It's a mission he doesn't take lightly.
This photographer is on a quest to spotlight the culture of Black cowboys.
Ivan McClellan is a Portland-based photojournalist and designer and the creator of "Eight Seconds," a photography project dedicated to showcasing the culture of Black cowboys. His work has been featured in ESPN, The Undefeated, Dazed, Complex, and Because Of Them We Can, and he has no plans on slowing down anytime soon. It all started in 2015 with McClellan connected with a friend who was working on a documentary about Black cowboys. That friend invited McClellan to attend a rodeo with him, and he agreed, not knowing anything about the rich history or what he was about to get himself into.
"I went, I don't know why I did. It was just the right opportunity for me. I was in Portland, Oregon, which is a very white city, and the opportunity to go and be around Black folks just sounded really good to me," McClellan told BOTWC.
When he arrived at that rodeo in 2015 in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the Kansas City native saw what could only be described as magical. Thousands of Black cowboys. None of them looked like the traditional ones he had previously seen in the movies.
{snip}