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True Grit
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True Grit

Marfa, Texas - 2020
Marfa, Texas

It is integral to my style of animal portraiture to obsess on the lead characteristics of the subject and then look to magnify those characteristics. I always want a Champions League model, not a Third Division player. When I photograph African elephants, for instance, I work in Kenya which boasts the biggest, most magnificent elephants in the world. I would never go to Botswana to photograph an elephant - they are smaller than their East African cousins.

With cowboys, I am drawn to the great state of Texas - where the most authentic, uncompromising, working cowboys in the world live their lives. The flat and arid, big sky topography of West Texas offers a distinctive canvas that not just locates an image, it also lends a stage on which to take a dynamic portrait. Texan cowboys are the real deal and the vastness of west Texas is their workplace.

On set on the Rio Grande, which divides America from Mexico, I met a working cowboy called Ryan Marshall. Mannered and tough, he boasted not only extraordinary horsemanship skills, but a bountiful and ageless moustache and beard. I knew that I had to take his portrait in full partnership with his magnificent horse, Frisco, and we had already scouted the perfect location and had been granted access to it the following day. The deal was done.

The photograph wins because of its vitality and power, but also because of Ryan’s anonymity. I am an eyes person, but on this occasion, we don’t need them. This is west Texas and all the ‘True Grit’ that goes with it.


With cowboys, I am drawn to the great state of Texas - where the most authentic, uncompromising, working cowboys in the world live their lives.

David Yarrow
Print sizes

Standard

37" x 67" Unframed

52" x 82" Framed

Edition of 12

Large

56" x 102" Unframed

71" x 117" Framed

Edition of 12

The Dallas CowboysThe Sheriff's DaughterGhost RiderRaising ArizonaThe Longhorn SaloonVantage PointThe WaitOn the RocksRodeoAin't My First RodeoThe Thundering HerdHigh NoonSummitHorsepowerThe White TurfThe RancherLiving Without BordersHonky Tonk WomanParisThe End of Line19058 BallHappy HourMeet the FockersShape of WaterPegasusTrue NorthPunkThe Last Supper in TexasDevil's BackboneThe Barber Off FairfaxThe BorderThe Lost Horse SaloonNorseTrue GritThe Quick and the DeadThe American DreamDead or AliveRed Dead66 Degrees NorthThe Magnificent SevenThe Push WestRed Dead Redemption3:10 to YumaGo West Young ManThe Rio GrandeTexas