Horse racing, rodeos and state fairs are some of the most popular spectator attractions in America. Together, Ellen Rennard, Meg Birnbaum and Charles Meyer will be appearing in an exhibition at Panopticon Gallery (November 4 – December 5, 2011) showcasing their photographs of this agrarian, communal culture.
Horse racing is a contest of speed, endurance and spunk; and for Ellen Rennard, her dream was to be a jockey. Her images display the Downs at Albuquerque, a thoroughbred racetrack at the New Mexico State Fairground. They focus on the people, horses and trappings of life at the track. The B&W gelatin silver prints suggest the look of photographs from the glory days of racing some 40 years ago. Rennard’s mementos of the grandstands overlooking the finish line at the Downs show that true horsemanship still endures.
Horse racing is a contest of speed, endurance and spunk; and for Ellen Rennard, her dream was to be a jockey. Her images display the Downs at Albuquerque, a thoroughbred racetrack at the New Mexico State Fairground. They focus on the people, horses and trappings of life at the track. The B&W gelatin silver prints suggest the look of photographs from the glory days of racing some 40 years ago. Rennard’s mementos of the grandstands overlooking the finish line at the Downs show that true horsemanship still endures.
Ellen Rennard, Resting
Smitten with fairs since her teenage years, Meg Birnbaum’s photographs were taken over a two-year period at 14 summer fairs in New England. Her portfolio illustrates the abiding, American tradition that combines farm products and livestock with entertainment. Birnbaum captures peoples’ deep connection with their animals, the innocence of joy, and the street vendor hoi polloi of fairs. All of these disparate elements harmonize against a backdrop of shouts, whistles and bells, livestock and sellable items. Photographed using plastic toy cameras and B&W film, the soft-detailed photographs capture a memory of an iconic image.
Meg Birnbaum, Cowgirl
Charles Meyer’s series of images capture the passion, strength and energy of Indian horsemanship. Taken at the Annual Crow Fair Celebration of the Apsaalooke Nation in Montana, the rodeo showcases the top notch cowboys of the western U.S. and their outstanding skills. It is a competition of riding broncos, roping calves and rounding up cattle. Meyer displays onlookers sitting on the metal fence of cow pens; and rugged men in spurs with their straw hats and leather boots, stretching in the dirt before a ride, and grasping onto a railing, paused, before the rampage.
Charles Meyer, Cowboy Stretching, 1992
-Marianne Salza, Panopticon Gallery Intern
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