On the cattle ranch with Erika Larsen
by 
|Erika Larsen’s cattle ranch photographs have a surreal yet timeless quality to them. I would never have guessed that they were commissioned by a business magazine. We caught up with the New York-based photographer recently to find out about her time on the ranch. What made you embark on the cattle ranch project? ‘The Cattle Ranch was a project assigned to me by Fortune Small Business Magazine last October. The ranch is owned by Rick Jarret, who opens his home several times a year to guests who want to experience the daily life of a working ranch. Nothing is made extra special for the guest. You literally walk into his life, sleep in his home, eat your meals with him, and go to work. The ranch is in Montana’.
For some reason, your series reminds me a bit of the Wizard of Oz. How would you describe the mood?
‘The ranch to me was like anything else I have held close to my heart, touched, felt, and experienced on many levels. It goes with the intuitive understanding that all life is governed by the same law: there are beginnings and ends in flow with ebbs and tides. This too will change. This life, this land, these moments are fleeting, but hold significant importance for the period of time they exist. That is what I see in my images’.
What was the process and how many days did you spend documenting life at the Cattle Ranch?
‘I only spent four or five days there, but that was really the point of the ranch. This was not a documentary where I was spending weeks or months trying to give a comprehensive view of a lifestyle. It was a small window in time made to mimic what a guest may experience when visiting the ranch’.
Do you carry a camera with you at all times or only when you know you’ll need one?
‘I don’t carry a camera at all times. Usually not in cities, but quite often in nature. I own one camera and one lens. I use 4×5 field camera and hand load my plates. So given the size and the amount of work it takes to make an image, I am not regularly carrying it around. I pick and choose when I want to engage on the level that occurs when making images. And sometimes it chooses me’.
How do you go about looking for potential stories/projects to photograph?
‘I follow my intuition and my heart, which leads me in many directions. I easily work on many projects at once. Some are for a short period of time, some have lasted six years or longer. All this being said, a major factor is what projects present themselves to me. When the timings collide in unison, then a story can be communicated. As a whole, I look at my work as one ongoing story, new chapters writing themselves as I walk along’.
Where are you currently finding inspiration?
‘I find inspiration usually stems from a search within myself to understand the instinctual draw I have towards certain people, places, emotions and themes. I am also greatly aware of nature and spirit’.
RELATED
The photography of Lily Nance engages the arresting vulnerability of youth in a way that only the perverse and loving reaction of the subject to its inquisitive observer really can.
The street art of Alexandre Farto, aka Vhils’, is so refreshing. He carves, sculpts, drills, scratches and paints his images onto the wall. And he captures emotion in great detail. Check out this awesome video to watch him in action. Read more
Beautiful portrait photographs from India
London-based designer and photographer, Karnatarka, has some nice portraits from India showing the diversity of the country. Read more
Also by ALISON ZAVOS
In early 1965, LIFE photographer Bill Ray spent several weeks with The Hells Angels. Ray recalls his days and nights with Buzzard, Hambone, Big D, and other Angels (and their ‘old ladies’) at a time when the roar of Harleys and the sight of long-haired bikers was still new, alien, and for the average, law-abiding citizen, simply terrifying. This is a selection of Ray’s images originally published by LIFE.com, and more images can be seen on their website. [via Feature Shoot] Read more
Photo portraits of Model Railway Enthusiasts
David Vintiner is a British portrait photographer living in London. These portraits are from a personal project, Enthusiasts, which was selected for the Creative Review Photography Annual last year. He writes: ‘My Enthusiasts were shot on location at a model railway exhibition in Birmingham, England. In my photography I’m drawn to the subtlety of the everyday, in this case, passion for a hobby’. Read more
Celestial photographs inspired by dreams
Jaime Martinez was born in Monterrey, Mexico and is currently living in Mexico City. His work is influenced by his many fashionable friends and surroundings. Jaime’s photographs have been featured in many magazines including Fifi, Subterra, and Rolling Stone Germany. [via Feature Shoot] Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (2)
shane said | 16 August, 2008
I love the natural look to the shots, im getting a littlle sick of the digital revolutions oversaturated hyper color and this is a refreshing revival of the photograph
HAVE YOUR SAY
I fell in love with Anthony Goicolea’s wonderful drawings and photographs a few years ago when I stumbled upon his show at Postmasters Gallery in New York. His world is both arousing and disturbing, as visions of childhood nostalgia and innocence intermingle with darker more abusive subject matter. Read more
Scottish artist Charles Avery has created a brilliantly fantastical world populated with mythical creatures in his artwork. Read more
The very talented Jess Snow, the first video artist to be featured by Female Persuasion — the original site for provocative and political female artists — has created this ethereal short video for Lost At E Minor. We feel it. We love it. [see also the promo video Lifelongfriendshipsociety created for us]
Aesop’s signature space in Fitzroy, Melbourne, looks amazing, we’ve got the word on how and why. Why was Gabriel Garcia Marquez chosen as the featured author? ‘There are literary giants and then there are writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whose talents redefine not only the genres they choose to work within but what’s possible in literature as a whole. The fact that his work has transcended his own language and culture has also prompted our decision to pay homage’. Read more
Shorpy is a great blog dedicated to digitally restored photos, mostly from the first half of the 20th century, but some from as early as the 1840s. Read more
If Pharrell’s calling these guys ‘geniuses’, you’d better watch out! Chester French are Ivy League prep boys from Massachusetts who have mastered an interesting Beatlesque sound tinged with Motown influences. When, in May 2007, the duo — D.A. and Max — completed their recording and their degrees (in African American Studies and Social Anthropology respectively), they were snapped up by Pharrell Williams’ label Star Trak.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
So here’s the scoop. Every six weeks, T-post subscribers get a new t shirt issue in the mail, with a news story on the inside and an artist interpretation of that story on the front. Yes, we agree. It’s clever, clever. Read more
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
How ’bout this Jose Manuel Hortelano-Pi guy, huh? Quite the illustrator, yessiree Bob. From Spain, too. Spain is great! Read more
Communication prosthesis by Sascha Nordmeyer
This ‘communication prosthesis’ by designer Sascha Nordmeyer is hilarious and awesome. I want to wear one to a job interview.
Never ever, ever, ever, ever park here
Some friendly advice for the neighbours, who simply don’t get it, or street art? You decide which one it is.
Get lost in a daydream or a craving for something sweet while gazing at these cool sculptures by Brooklyn-based WiNK WiNK PONY. Made using clay, tree bark, wood, and mossy moss.
Michelle Blade’s psychedelic artwork
Michelle Blade’s washed out paintings are deceptively simple, her washy acrylics creating psychedelic textures and conjuring ghostly figures from the past. Read more
This pendant by Portland designer Stephanie Stimek hangs from an eighteen inch 14 carat gold chain. Made from a Japanese quail egg, the entire shell has been coated in plastic for strength and is available for purchase through the Lost At E Minor store. Read more
If you have a Twitter feed that focuses on cool pop cultural things and you’d like to swap Tweets with Lost At E Minor and other like-minded Twitterers, drop us a note (with Tweet Swap in the title). We have a system in place and we’d like to have you in on it! [illustration by Brad Fitzpatrick]
FOLLOW US
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
SEARCH: Can't find what you're looking for? Do a search..
IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it's not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.
Brittanie said | 25 July, 2008
wow i love this cattle ranch series on her site. they’re really beautiful, especially the colors.
there’s not enough rural photography out there.