Keep the Spirit of the West alive
 Twenty years ago I started photographing cowboys and the western way of life. At first I was just looking for a change of subject from the active sport lifestyle photos that I had been creating for the previous fifteen years. I had no idea when I took those first photos of Ray and Mike Seal at our hunting camp in the Smokey Mountains of Idaho that my life would be changed forever.
What I found was truth, honesty, courage and a way of life, a culture that was first built on age old principles. It is a culture where the people lived by a code where people relied on each other for help, support, and friendship, where people gave respect and people learned respect. This is a culture where you help your neighbor do his work and helps you. You watch his cattle and he watches yours.
Cowboys are not gauged by how much money they have, but how they care for their family, their land, their horses, and their cattle as well as their dogs. It is romantic and exciting, as well as heroic and dangerous.
I became consumed by all of this and more. I loved the horses and the cattle; I met some of the most interesting people and saw the most fantastic landscapes and unique ranches.
A lot of the people that I have photographed have sadly passed away, some from old age, some from horse accidents or other terrible accidents or sickness. A few of the ranches have been broken up and sub-divided or just gone to new owners. But the photos remain as a document of their existence and of a life lived.
I am so very proud to have spent the last twenty years documenting the West and I hope that I will be able to do it for a second twenty. I am very thankful to all the people who have let me into their lives, their homes, and their ranches, to simply take their photograph. My dream, my mission, my goal in life has evolved with this work to document the West as it is during my brief stay here.
This library that I have created of over a half million photographs stands as a record and as a testimonial of people who have worked hard to preserve a way of life that started many years before there was a United States or the West or even a cowboy.
To keep the spirit of the West alive is why I do it. I am lucky to have a family who supports me and a staff that backs me up in my quest. It has not been easy, nor should it be and nor do I expect it to be. It is a challenge but I am committed.
I hope I have captured all of this on film and have been able to communicate this to you, and more, through my books, calendars, prints and cards. Thank you, my readers, for all your support and encouragement these last twenty years and please stay with me for the next twenty.
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