Customer Reviews

Gathering Remnants: A Tribute to the Working Cowboy

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Timeless black and white photography of a timeless subject, Cowboys of the American West. Well done with an obvious emotional connection to her work. A must for everyone's home and heart!

Here's another book of fine photography devoted to cowboys and buckaroos, this time put together by three women. It's a big oversize book, with 48 black and white plates by California photographer Kendall Nelson. The rather worshipful and romantic text is by German-born writer Felicitas Funke-Riehle. Gretel Ehrlich has provided an introduction about the lonely, hard work of a cowboy, written in her own meticulous eye-for-detail style. (Clint Eastwood has a brief 5-sentence foreword.)

The photos were taken 1996-1999 on several ranches in Nevada, with some additional shots taken in Texas, Wyoming, and Idaho. Most of them are of individual cowboys, many with their horses. Typically they are captured against a sweeping terrain under a big sky with scattered clouds. A buckaroo gathers sage brush for a branding fire. Another sits in the open flap of a teepee tent bent over a silver bit he's repairing, Four vaqueros sit in the shade against a wall, smoking cigarettes, the oldest of them watching the photographer.

Cowboys move cattle through sage brush, raising clouds of dust. A cowboss stands with his wife and son against the plank walls of a shed, their three border collies gathered at their feet. A man leans, head down against a fence, snow collecting on the brim of his hat. The photographs capture the relentless, hard work of these men and something of their solitude. Even as they wait for their horses (see cover photograph) they stand separately, keeping a distance between them. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in cowboys, cattle ranching, Western life, and thoughtful photography. For vintage photographs of cowboys, I suggest also Richard Collins' "The American Cowboy."

Kendall Nelson captures her subject well. I saw her photos on display at my friend's house and she showed me the book. I couldn't afford the photos, but the book was right in my range. Book is great. Photos are wonderful. I especially enjoy the photo of the cowgirl and her dog.

If you have any interest in cowboys or the American west, you'll love this book. The stunning photographs and elegent text tell the story of a simple, rugged lifestyle that is, sadly, disappearing all too quickly from our national landscape.

You'll want to keep this one handy to look at again and again. And it makes a great gift!

The coffee table book does an extraordinary job of documenting contemporary cowboys. The book is a must for all to see.

I saw the film of this book at a film festival in Boise, ID a year or so ago. I was so taken by the beauty and the quality of it I chased the presenter down, lost sight of her and then went from one email address to another until I contacted her. I bought the film and now have the book. I've lived in Idaho off and on for a few years now and can say that the absolute beauty of the area, the people and the way of life there are wonderfully captured in this book and film. I'd recommend this to anyone who still believes that there is a code to live by, honesty, hard work and being true to a way of life.

The book is so big (14 1/2" x 12 1/2"), and Clint Eastwood wrote the Introduction. The photographs are fabulous. If you want to know about REAL working cowboys, buy a copy of this book!

I have just bought a copy of this wonderful book of VERY large format photographs of contemporary cowboys, and their environment. The foreword is by CLINT EASTWOOD no less, and the introduction is by GRETEL EHRLICH. I can't imagine how they managed to publish such a sumptuous book in beautiful duotones for only .... The photos are amazing, and the text is wonderful. If you're into the real life of cowboys in the West, you've just got to have it. ...