Artist: Lydia Armstrong

Project: “Virginia Rodeo”

Description: Lydia Armstrong’s ongoing series Virginia Rodeo began in 2022 in Doswell, Virginia, and aims to document the state’s vibrant rodeo scene. The project has served as an education for Armstrong, an outsider to the sport; over the last three seasons, the artist has learned the rules of the sport itself but also about the culture surrounding this American tradition. In Virginia, rodeo communities are tight-knit and conservative, and sometimes skeptical of outsiders. Adding to social challenges are technical ones, as the project is shot entirely on 35mm film, mostly at night under starry skies and glaring stadium lights, using decades-old equipment. The black-and-white photos lend a historical feel to a subject mired in an age-old piece of Americana iconized by spaghetti westerns and the lure of the cowboy, yet still employed on ranches today.