WINNERS

Juneteenth Rodeo, 1978-1979

  • Photographer
    Sarah Bird, United States
  • Prize
    Silver Winner in Zines And Photo Book/Culture

Juneteenth Rodeo is a book of photos I took at Black rodeos in the late 1970s. Although there was no interest in Black cowboys back then, there is tremendous interest now and the University of Texas Press published the photos I took almost half a century ago on June 19th of this year. I am so grateful that I documented this now all-but-vanished world (the world of the small-town, non-professional Black rodeo), that I lived long enough to return these images to the fans and contestants who created such remarkable events, and that our country is now celebrating Black cowboys and girls.