Returning to the ranch after three decades, a former cowboy captures the current state of the American West

“Every cowboy can instantly call up with fondness … the smell of cattle carried on a dusty wind across sagebrush and juniper, and the feeling of a good horse underneath you as you work together to keep a herd moving,” writes American photographer John Langmore. Langmore began cowboying in 1975 at the age of 12, the same year that his father, Bank Langmore, published the preeminent photo book The Cowboy. John spent 12 summers working across the west before transitioning to a more regulatory career. Then, in 2012, John began a six-year project photographing 14 of the nation’s largest and most famous ranches in Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, Montana and Wyoming. Of all those who have photographed the American cowboy, John is one of the few who came to it first as a colleague and then as a photographer. This large landscape book features 90 tritone plates along with Langmore’s own poetic recollections of working as a cowboy. Open Range offers an unrivaled chance to witness a way of life that many dream of, but few experience.

John Langmore (born 1962) is the son of photographer Bank Langmore. He spent his adolescence working as a cowboy, then became an attorney. Turning to photography decades later, he focused his lens on the American cowboy and the big-outfit ranch. He co-directed and produced the award-winning film Cowboys: A Documentary Portrait and co-founded the Austin Center for Photography. In 2016 his photographs were exhibited alongside those of his father at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.