American Photography 29 Winners

Rodeo Girls

Rodeo Girls, March 2012, an ongoing personal project about young girls from Texas who compete in rodeos. These individuals have a fundamentally different idea about their femininity and a contrasting attitude towards gender roles. They are engaged in activities that traditionally were reserved for men, they posses great physical strength and demonstrate their dominance over animals. I am interested in the limitation these girls face in expressing their femininity and the transference of it onto animals, which are very well groomed and pampered. The animals take on the feminine qualities and girls embrace masculine demeanor. Those girls adopted the dress code that follows male fashion system and many of them enjoy not having to look or behave in a feminine way. They grow up according to a male archetype and I am examining how their lives and identities are shaped by their surroundings. The photographs celebrate the beauty of the terrain and the idiosyncrasies of this old fashioned American tradition, which is recently vanishing.

Rodeo Girls

Rodeo Girls, March 2012, an ongoing personal project about young girls from Texas who compete in rodeos. These individuals have a fundamentally different idea about their femininity and a contrasting attitude towards gender roles. They are engaged in activities that traditionally were reserved for men, they posses great physical strength and demonstrate their dominance over animals. I am interested in the limitation these girls face in expressing their femininity and the transference of it onto animals, which are very well groomed and pampered. The animals take on the feminine qualities and girls embrace masculine demeanor. Those girls adopted the dress code that follows male fashion system and many of them enjoy not having to look or behave in a feminine way. They grow up according to a male archetype and I am examining how their lives and identities are shaped by their surroundings. The photographs celebrate the beauty of the terrain and the idiosyncrasies of this old fashioned American tradition, which is recently vanishing.