Stories and Handmade Silver Gelatin Photographs from the Ozark National Scenic Riverways
I photograph the free-roaming wild horses of Shannon County, Missouri, within the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
I return to these horses month after month, year after year, spending time in the fields, forests, and river country of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, learning the individual animals, watching their relationships, following new foals as they grow, and witnessing the ordinary moments that make their lives remarkable.
This is not a collection of isolated wildlife photographs. I am documenting their real lives—the remarkable and tender moments, the struggles, the hard days, and the devastating losses.
It is an ongoing story about a small population of wild horses, the families they form, the landscape they inhabit, and the lives they live within the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
Spending Time With the Horses
The most important part of this work happens before I ever make a print.
It happens in the field.
I spend hours and sometimes days, watching, waiting, walking, and learning how these horses live within the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
Over time, I learn the personalities and behaviors of individual horses. Personalities emerge. Mares raise foals. Young horses mature. Herd relationships change. Stallions protect their families. Horses disappear, return, separate, and sometimes form new groups.
Their lives are far more complex and dynamic than most people realize.
The more time I spend with them, the less interested I am in simply making beautiful photographs of horses.
I want to tell their stories.
Photography gives me a way to preserve the moments I witness and share something of these horses with people who may never have the opportunity to stand quietly in this landscape and experience them for themselves. I see the time I spend with these horses as a blessing and a responsibility—to pay attention, to respect their lives, and to tell their story as honestly as I can.
The Photographs
Some moments are dramatic.
Others are almost completely quiet.
A tender moment with a mare standing beside her foal.
A stallion watching over his family.
Two horses grooming each other.
A herd moving through morning fog.
An aging horse standing alone and being left behind.
A brief expression that reveals something about a horse I have followed for months or years.
These are the photographs I am looking for.
I am less interested in making large numbers of images than I am in finding the few photographs that say something meaningful about the horses and their lives within the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
From the Field to a Handmade Photograph
For me, the photograph is not finished when I make the image in the field.
Selected photographs continue into my darkroom.
I create a real black-and-white film negative and use it to make the finished photograph by hand on traditional silver gelatin fiber paper.
The print is exposed with light, developed in chemistry, washed, carefully finished, and individually inspected before it leaves my darkroom.
It is not simply a digital image reproduced on paper, canvas or acrylic.
It is a physical photograph made by my hands in my darkroom, one at a time.
Handmade B&W Silver Gelatin Prints
There is something very different about seeing a photograph as a physical object.
The surface of the paper.
The depth of the blacks.
The subtle tones within the horse’s coat.
The detail that becomes visible when the photograph grows large.
And most importantly, the physical presence of the horse.
That is why I make traditional silver gelatin photographs.
Some are intimate prints meant to be viewed closely.
Others can become large gallery photographs reaching 30×40 or 40×50 inches, where the horse begins to occupy the room in a completely different way.
Each print is individually made in my darkroom rather than produced as mass inventory.
Follow Their Story
The finished photographs represent only a small part of the time I spend with these horses.
Through my Free Wild Horse Field Notes, I share the continuing story from the Ozark National Scenic Riverways:
I share new photographs, individual horse stories, new foals, herd changes, observations, and the meaningful moments I encounter throughout the year.
You do not need to know anything about photography to follow along.
The Wild Horse Field Notes are simply for people who care about these horses and want to know more about their fascinating lives.
Why This Work Matters
These horses are part of the history and character of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways and this corner of southern Missouri.
They have survived here through generations of change, and their future should never be taken for granted.
My role is simple.
Spend time with them.
Pay attention.
Learn their stories.
Make photographs that matter.
And preserve something of their lives through photographs that can remain long after the moment itself has passed.
I believe people are more likely to care about something once they have had the opportunity to know it.
If these photographs help someone see these horses as individuals, families, and living parts of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, then the work has accomplished something important.
Learn More About Missouri’s Wild Horses
The story of these horses extends far beyond my photographs.
You can learn more about their history, the laws that protect them, the organizations involved in their care, and the individual herds that live within the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
Stay Close to the Horses
The best way to follow my continuing work is through the Wild Horse Field Notes.
I share photographs and stories when there is something worth sharing—not because a publishing schedule says that I should.
