The book spans more than two decades!
Ron Tarver is a Pulitzer prize-winning photographer who began collecting and photographing Black cowboys more than 30 years ago, Black Enterprise reports. It started out as an assignment for National Geographic and The Philadelphia Inquirer and grew into a collection highlighting generations of cowboys, cowgirls, rodeo queens, and ranchers across Oklahoma, East Texas, and Philadelphia. Now, Tarver’s work has been compiled in a new book entitled The Long Ride Home: Black Cowboys in America.
The book was released on August 31st. It showcases more than 20 years of cowboy life, showing cowboys working in stables, attending town parades, and showing off their care for horses and palatial ranches. Over the years, Tarver collected more than 20,000 pictures from his travels, recently doing a book signing for The Long Ride Home in Philadelphia, where it all began.
“This is one of those projects that wouldn’t leave me along for the longest time. It’s always been on my mind because it’s such an important project to get out into the public,” Tarver told reporters.
One of the staples profiled in the book is North Philadelphia native Jordan Bullock, who Tarver first photographed in 1993, working alongside his father, Bumpsey Bullock, who ran the White House stables. Now 43, Jordan is a racehorse trainer at Parx Casino and Racetrack. He says that being a cowboy is who he’s always been.
“This is all I ever knew. It was normal my whole life. That’s what we did on weekends and after school; it was my father and my aunt, my cousins, and one of my uncles. My mother’s side of the family – by total chance – my parents did not know this when they met each other – but my mother’s side of the family is in horses in Virginia,” said Bullock.
For Tarver, the book was about spotlighting people like Bullock, who are central to Philadelphia’s urban rodeo history. Since the 1990s, Tarver has been traveling across the country documenting Black horse cultures, and his images are set to be displayed in the Portrait of Philadelphia exhibition. From photos of Philadelphia cowboys playing basketball to two women cleaning a saddle, Tarver wanted to showcase the nuance of Black cowboys.
“I didn’t want to have a documentary book. I wanted to have a book that celebrated the lifestyle of Black people who share this Western heritage. Just, for lack of a better word, beautiful images of this lifestyle and people enjoying the culture,” explained Tarver.
The book couldn’t come at a better time, with Black Western culture at the forefront of the conversation with figures like Shaboozey and Beyonce’s breakout country album, Cowboy Carter. Tarver said it all enhances this beautiful subculture that has been forced to the margins. He’s hoping The Long Ride Home can help add to the conversation.
“ I think it is more prevalent now because it’s out in the zeitgeist. You can’t have better notoriety than Beyonce coming out with an album. The Cowboy Carter album just blew everything up. It became accepted, but there’s still a little bit of prejudice out there when it comes to what’s accepted as country and what’s not accepted. I’m hoping that this book will just add to the conversation, said Tarver.
The Long Ride Home: Black Cowboys in America is available for purchase now.
Cover photo: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographer Ron Tarver Releases New Book Celebrating Black Cowboys/Photo credit: Swarthmore