John Stryker Figurative Photography

Mary Illen Ft. Worth, TX by John Stryker is a 10 x 8 inch silver gelatin print. This photograph is signed in ink on print recto and titled in pencil on print verso. This photograph features a cowgirl riding a light colored horse, resting at a river. The horse reaches down to the water for a drink, while the woman looks down lovingly at the horse. John Stryker was born in Rockford, Illinois, September 1, 1883. He is most remembered for his body of photographs he took of the "Olympic of Western sport"*- the Rodeo. During his lifetime he crossed America, working rodeos as an announcer, a producer, promoter and sometimes a rider. He invented the chute that the animals come out of and he developed new ways of photographing action during an event. Dramatic shots were taken from the ground, propping his camera on the toe of his right boot right next to a bucking bronco. Some historians believe that John Stryker was directly responsible for the growth and sophistication of the sport. His negatives are in the collection of the University of Texas at Permian Basin, Odessa. His photographs have been exhibited during his lifetime at the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyoming, and the Amon Carter Museum in Ft. Worth, Texas. His photographs have been published widely including Life, Look, The Cattleman, The Western Horseman, and The Quarter Horse Journal. In 1977, The Rodeo of John Addison Stryker...