Lisa Eisner

Lisa Eisner shows the totally north american rodeo ritual from a completely different approach. “Rodeo girl” is about the stables, the terraces, the horse related parties, the USA flag dresses and above all the girls involved in that popular entertainment. Following the Miss Rodeo competition (the “rodeo queens”) Eisner documents how women interact with this spectacle not bidding or showing their quality controlling their wild horse, but in other ways that are usually overlooked. The ceremonies, the rituals, the individual style… there’s a lot to look for in rodeo’s! Some of these actions are just pure men entertainment, but Eisner does not spend too much time on them and as we go through the pages we can start to understand how different is her point of view compared to the cliche of this events. The book varies from low contrasted black and grey to striking bright colors and perfect lighting where we can see the details of the vests, the make up precision and the amazing landscapes of the locations where the events happen.

Style and fashion could be the most appropiate labels for this photobook, but is also a great piece of documentary photography made by a former Vogue editor. Lisa Eisner is a Wyoming native who began documenting the world of rodeo queens in 1994 and published this photobook in 2000 after years of going to tons of locations and taking hundreds of portraits.

"Eisner's homage to women at home on the range is a photo book in the manner of William Klein: gorgeously brazen, blending strident color and cool black and white. Above all, she captures proud horsewomen--a fiery mesh of tomboy and diva." Harper's Bazaar
"Former Vogue editrix and fashion muse to hotshot designers, Eisner takes us to a place where acid wash never went out of style, cowboy hats have always been a hot accessory, and line dancing is still going strong." Entertainment Weekly… (mehr)