For several years, Chloe Kerleroux has been photographing African American cowboy communities in the southern US. Her work has mainly focused on trail rides: large gatherings where horses, music, dancing, family and community life come together. This year, she explored rodeo culture including at the Bill Pickett invitational in Atlanta The image of the cowboy widely portrayed in westerns and popular culture has long been almost exclusively white. Yet Black cowboys hold an important place in the history of the American west. After the civil war and the abolition of slavery, many African Americans found work on ranches and on the great cattle drives westward. By the late 19th century, historians estimate about one in four cowboys were Black. Among the Black figures who shaped this history was Bill Pickett. Born in Texas in 1870, he became one of the most celebrated Black cowboys and rodeo performers of his time, known in particular for popularising bulldogging, which would eventually give rise to modern steer wrestling. After the national anthem, Josh, a member of the Outlaws Most Wanted, rides around the arena to a pounding hip-hop track as his teammates cheer him on at the Bill Pickett invitational rodeo in Conyers, near Atlanta, Georgia, on 2 August 2026 Continue reading...
‘We’re in a brotherhood now’: the Bill Pickett rodeo – photo essay
For several years, Chloe Kerleroux has been photographing African American cowboy communities in the southern US. Her work has mainly focused on trail rides: large gatherings where horses, music, dancing, family and community life come together. This year, she explored rodeo culture including at the Bill Pickett invitational in Atlanta The image of the cowboy widely portrayed in westerns and popular culture has long been almost exclusively white. Yet Black cowboys hold an important place in the history of the American west. After the civil war and the abolition of slavery, many African Americans found work on ranches and on the great cattle drives westward. By the late 19th century, historians estimate about one in four cowboys were Black. Among the Black figures who shaped this history was Bill Pickett. Born in Texas in 1870, he became one of the most celebrated Black cowboys and rodeo performers of his time, known in particular for popularising bulldogging, which would eventually give rise to modern steer wrestling. After the national anthem, Josh, a member of the Outlaws Most Wanted, rides around the arena to a pounding hip-hop track as his teammates cheer him on at the Bill Pickett invitational rodeo in Conyers, near Atlanta, Georgia, on 2 August 2026 Continue reading...