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the young horseman: a diptych
Let’s just go ahead and assume that I was smart enough to plan this in advance – that I on purpose got two completely different shots of this young man and that I intended all along to create a diptych to show him on horseback and hanging out with his friend.
(But you know that all of this is just a coincidence and I only realized the possibilities after I got home and was editing and realized it was in fact the same kid twice.)
Clovis Horse Sale
Levelland, Texas
photographed 5.18.2024
footgear
I was at the horse sale, but that doesn’t mean that non-horse stuff wasn’t interesting. Like these boots – I was sort of fascinated by them.
Clovis Horse Sale
Levelland, Texas
photographed 5.18.2024
spotter with pearl snap buttons and a bidder
Oh, man – I sure do like watching the auction spotters as they coax ever-higher bids from people who want to buy a horse. They have great facial expressions and mysterious hand signs and they never, ever look discouraged.
Clovis Horse Sale
Levelland, Texas
photographed 5.18.2024
$69,000
Photography has led me to do some really random things. Like go to horse auctions, if you want an example.
This was the second one I’ve attended and I’m entertained enough that I’ll probably go to some more of them. The photography’s fun, but honestly the best part is listening to the auctioneers’ patter. That’s how I’ve heard things like, “He’s had all the outside stuff done on him.” and “Castration is not out of the question.” (This was not referring to the same horse, obviously.) And I heard, “…if you don’t know where your butt is compared to your feet…” which sort of reminds me of my own personal gracefulness.
Anyway, this horse sold for $69,000, in case you were wondering what the going rate is for nine year old geldings.
Clovis Horse Sale
Levelland, Texas
photographed 5.18.2024
family
This is just a block away from my office, so I drive by it often. And for some reason, April 16 was the day I noticed it and recognized it for what it was: a photographic opportunity. So on April 17 I brought my camera to work.
(I also spent some time that day driving around, seeking a particular body shop that I had very specific recollections of. My memories were that it was a corrugated metal building, that it had an unevenly-painted business name right on the metal, that there was a car – an old Impala? – parked in front, that it was on my right as I faced east. I never found it. I looked until I gave up. And that’s when I remembered a particularly vivid dream about being out photographing. So maybe that elusive body shop was just a dream?)
(Welcome to my brain – it’s weird in there.)
Levelland, Texas
photographed 4.17.2024
One Day | One Image 