Roughstock: The Toughest Events in Rodeo [Hardcover]

John Annerino (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2000

Few things are as classically American as the cowboy. And the most thrilling real-life setting for a modern cowboy is one of America's fastest growing spectator sports and its most dangerous . . . rodeo, a sport that makes professional wrestling look like a picnic. Now comes Roughstock: the first full-color photography book dedicated to the culture of rodeo -- packed with one hundred ten gorgeous photographs never before seen.

Today's rodeo cowboys -- much like those of yesterday -- are multicultural, with African Americans, Hispanics, whites, women, and Native Americans among the greatest rodeo stars.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Roughstock: The Toughest Events in Rodeo is a stunning photographic documentary by acclaimed photojournalist John Annerino. The most comprehensive book on the subject ever published, Roughstock takes readers behind-the-chutes for a fascinating glimpse into the most dangerous events in sports."
-- Rodeo Hall of Fame

"Annerino's dramatic photographs show the action of the roughstock rodeo events and brings to life the men and life who risk their lives to participate in them . . . the sense of danger is coupled with an itimacy created by his use of light."
-- People Magazine, Donnamarie Barnes, Photo editor

"Jammed with over 100 exclusive shots of bronco busters forking wild-eyed mustangs with hooves of dynamite, photojournalist John Annerino has been stomped by broncs and hooked by bulls capturing this riveting roundup of roughstock rodeo. Readers will hail it."
-- True West Magazine

"Roughstock is wonderful! John Annerino did an excellent job with the photography, finished layout, and the design of this book. An art director could not have done much betteer."
-- LIFE Magazine, Melvin L. Scott, former Picture Editor

"The crisp clean images make you feel like you'll get some of that rodeo dirt or sweat on your hands if you touch them. This is a coffee-table book you will want to peruse repeatedly . . . Some of the photographs of bulls throwing riders will take you breath away."
-- Paint Horse Magazine

From the Author

Doubleday Book Club
* View images from this collection at johnannerinophotography.com
* Read the author's illustrated biography at johnannerino.com
* Get updates about the author's published work at Author Central
* Order now from Amazon
* Autographed and inscribed copies available at johnannerinobooks.com

Images from this photo collection were featured in:
* Belgium annual, SNOECKS, Literatuur, Kunst, Reportages, Film/Foto, Mode, Design
* Phoenix Magazine

Reprinted with permission:          
"Roughstock: The Toughest Events in Rodeo joins the growing body of work by John Annerino that portrays the American western culture with photographic passion and a historical perspective. This book portrays "the cowboy" as a diverse and multiethnic persona not the traditional "Marboro Man" and conveys through his thoughtful and well researched essay that the traditional image was never in fact the case. Annerino's dramatic photographs bring to life the men and women who risk their lives. The images are full of action and the sense of danger is coupled with an intimacy created by his use of light and in his portraits of the cowboys. There is a rhythm and dance to the photos that creates a timelessness to the action. This book is wonderfully edited and layed out and may be the author's finest work to date."
-- People Magazine, Donnamarie Barnes, Photo editor

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Running Press (November 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568581777
• ISBN-13: 978-1568581774
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 9.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #674,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Rodeos

More About the Author

John is pleased to share the exciting news two of his new photography and literature books were published on January 24, 2012: the "Land if Enchantment's" 100 Year Centennial Edition, New Mexico: A Photographic Tribute; and the "Grand Canyon State's" 100 Year Centennial Edition, Arizona: A Photographic Tribute. His third new book, The Virgin of Guadalupe: Art and Legend, will be published by Gibbs Smith on March 1, 2012. His landmark photograph commemorating the World Trade Center was recently published in the 2011, 10th Anniversary editions of the New York Times No. 1 bestselling books, LIFE One Nation, America Remembers September 11, 2001, and LIFE In the Land of the Free. The iconic image and others can be viewed online at www.johnannerinophotography.com. John Annerino's indelible photographs were published previously in the New York Times No. 1 bestselling book, America 24/7: 24 Hours, 7 Days, Extraordinary Images of One American Week, and the Grand Canyon state sequel Arizona 24/7: Amazing Photographs of an Extraordinary State. John is the author and photographer of many books, among them 17 distinguished photographic essays and thirty-two single-artist calendars, including Wild & Scenic Arizona, Wild & Scenic New Mexico, La Virgen de Guadalupe, and the award winning books Indian Country, Desert Light, Grand Canyon Wild, Vanishing Borderlands, Canyons of the Southwest, The Wild Country of Mexico, and Roughstock: The Toughest Events in Rodeo, (acclaimed by the Rodeo Hall of Fame). John's credits include Arizona Highways Magazine, National Geographic Adventure, LIFE, Newsweek, People, Scientific American, Time, Travel & Leisure, and many prestigious clients worldwide. In his quest to explore the renowned landscapes and secret places of the Great Southwest and Old Mexico with a camera and pen over last 25 years, John has climbed its hallowed mountains, rafted its wild and scenic rivers, journeyed on foot through its mystical chasms, and crossed its alluring deserts. He has photographed and come to know the region's Native peoples and ceremonies, Western cowboys and traditions, and Spanish heritage and celebrations. John Annerino is a member of The Authors Guild, New York. Visit his illustrated bio online at www.johnannerino.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The spirit and tradition of the American west captured., January 9, 2001

By 

Donnamarie Barnes "donmb" (Yonkers, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Roughstock: The Toughest Events in Rodeo (Hardcover)

Roughstock:The Toughest Events in Rodeo joins a growing body of work by the photojournalist John Annerino that portrays the American western culture with a photographic passion and historical perspective. This book portrays "the cowboy" as a diverse and multiethnic persona not the traditional "Marboro Man" and conveys through his thoughtful and well researched essay that the traditional image was never in fact the case. Annerino's photographs show the action of the roughstock rodeo events and bring to life the men and women who participate in them. The images are full of action and the sense of danger and risks are coupled with an intimacy created by his use of light and in his portraits of the cowboys. There is a rhythm and dance to the photos that creates a timelessness to the action. The book is wonderfully edited and layed out and may be the author's finest work to date.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Let 'er buck . . ., April 4, 2005

By 

Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Roughstock: The Toughest Events in Rodeo (Hardcover)

This book is a collection of 110 color photographs that capture the drama, tension, and excitement of the most dangerous rodeo events - bareback, saddle bronc, and bull riding. Working out of his home base in Tucson, Arizona, photographer John Annerino has taken his camera behind the chutes, where he gets about as close as any observer can to the experience of riding roughstock.

This is a handsomely designed book, and the photographs are vividly reproduced, the images richly detailed, crisp and clear, often filling the pages. In a two-page spread, a cowboy flies to the ground from a bucking bull, while bull fighters in their clown costumes circle the animal, late afternoon sun casting long shadows and illuminating a cloud of dust kicked up around them. The gravel-strewn arena dirt is rough with the hoof marks of countless rides, and beyond a fence festooned with lite beer pennants, the stands are filled with hundreds of spectators, every face turned toward the action.

Annerino's camera reveals that in addition to the stereotypical cowboy, roughstock riders include Native Americans, African Americans, and women as well. And he writes a long essay at the beginning of the book tracing the arrival of the horse and horsemen at the start of the Spanish Conquest, the growth of the cattle industry and the evolution over centuries of the vaquero and in more recent times the emergence of the American cowboy. This is a fine book whose visual images offer an enthusiastic appreciation of the men and women who risk life and limb in rodeo's toughest events.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ride 'em Cowboy!, August 27, 2004

By 

O. H. Saenz (Tucson,Arizona) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Roughstock: The Toughest Events in Rodeo (Hardcover)

Annerino's pictures are a true testament to his total immersion on the subject! John rides the subject matter like no other. His images do the talking. They take the viewer with him all the way and back! Ride on, John!