Homeground
Homeground
American Southwest Rangelands
These images explore the landscape and culture of family ranching on American Southwestern rangelands. Beginning in 2012 to the present, they represent a variety of ecologically minded family-run ranches spread across New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. Deeply rooted in caring for the land and it’s stewardship, family ranching is a way of life that is seemingly timeless, as knowledge is passed on from one generation to another.
While often romanticized, it’s not an easy way of life. Extremes in climate can be unforgiving, and it’s remote. Here, a driveway can be seven miles of dirt, and the closest neighbor an hour or more drive, presenting a vastly different scale of distance and familiarity for most of us. For years, family ranchers have faced increasing struggles due to climate change, aging population, urban encroachment, and desertification caused by decades of overgrazing and poorly managed land.
Yet, for those I met, it’s a deeply rewarding way of life - one that implies a strong sense of identity, belonging, and knowing the land, intimately.