This up-close look at rodeo takes readers into the world of one of the few truly American sports, as balletic as it is brutal, as riveting as it is symbolic of a rapidly changing American West. Serpa's extraordinary images are accompanied by her anecdotal and informative annotations, as well as a provocative essay by Larry McMurtry. 75 photos.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Serpa's rodeo photographs constitute one of the best collections to come out of the chute in a long time. Together with the accompanying text, they capture the dynamic action as well as the mystique of "the most dangerous sport in the world." Serpa was the first woman photographer permitted into a professional rodeo arena and has spent the ensuing 30 years recording the stunning scenes she has found there. Despite the fact that she never had any formal training as a photographer, her work must certainly be classified as art; the black-and-white, large-format photos are an ideal medium for her to convey not only her own excitement, but also that of the event itself. Novelist Larry McMurtry's notes display his increasing cynicism about a sport he admittedly dislikes, and those three pages seem out of place. Nonetheless, the book will certainly appeal to rodeo enthusiasts and photographers. Fred Egloff
Review
"[Serpa's photographs have] extended what Eadweard Muybridge did with horses in the 1870s, and with the human form in the 1880s: in her own way, Serpa has revolutionized thinking about bodies in motion."--The New Yorker
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great rodeo pictures!,
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This review is from: Rodeo (Paperback)
I love the rodeo pictures in this book, but could have done without McMurtry's constant whining about how terrible the west is. Had a different person done the notes, I think it would have been much more interesting. Kind of smacks of jelousy in that McMurtry sounds almost like he's trying to talk you out of enjoying the book. Had someone else written the notes, then I would have given it 5 stars.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The drama and excitement of the rodeo arena . . .,
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This review is from: Rodeo: No Guts No Glory (Hardcover)
This is a terrific collection of 60+ black and white photographs by rodeo enthusiast Louise Serpa, dating from the 1960s to the 1990s. Most are a privileged view of the action, taken inside the arena, and the drama in those frozen moments of action is electric. As Larry McMurtry points out in his commentary at the end of the book, she has the gift of capturing motion just as a leaping animal and rider are poised in mid-air, ready to be overcome by gravity. Besides roughstock, she also finds the excitement in other events, like steer wrestling, team roping, and barrel racing, as well as the work of the bullfighters, or clowns.
One of the most dramatic shots is of a young bareback rider silhouetted against the thickening cloud of a sudden dust storm. In another, a fallen cowboy goes down under a completely air-borne saddle bronc. Another shows a surging melee of cowboys and horses in a wild horse race, while a saxophonist stands to play in the bandstand, and just beyond are boulders and forest-covered Arizona hillsides. The book is organized with a balancing flow of action shots followed by group and individual photos taken behind the chutes of riders stretching, adjusting their rigging, leaning on a fence to watch the show (backsides to the camera), or just sitting around talking. A few portrait shots capture a variety of moods among the contestants. Meanwhile, her own running commentary, describing rodeo events and rodeo people, flows along with the images. By contrast, novelist Larry McMurtry's anti-romantic comments about cowboys and rodeos close the book, but as he observes, it doesn't seem to matter how strongly you challenge the myth. The myth lives on. Hugely enjoyable book. Currently out of print. Find a copy and hang onto it.
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