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Nostalgia February 2014

Wit and Grit

The Changing Newspaper Business from a Rodeo Photographer's Perspective

By Mary Stobie

I didn't think of my work as "liberated," I just thought I was using a skill I had. But Knight may have seen me as a threat. A cowboy told me later, "Harry Knight is from the old school. He thinks if a woman is seen in the around the bucking chutes, it makes the event look less dangerous."

Rodeo photography was my profession. Not only did I sell black and white photos to the cowboys, but also to the Rodeo Sports News. In August of 1971 at the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo, I was poised to catch a photo of the next rider out of the bucking chutes. My boots were planted deep in the dust of the rodeo arena as I looked through the viewfinder of my Pentax.

"No women allowed in the arena. Get out!" stock contractor Harry Knight hollered and rode up next to me. Startled, I lowered my camera and whirled around to look up at the loud-mouthed kingpin.

While he distracted me from my job, a loose bucking horse galloped over me over from behind. Damn! I could have been killed, and it would have been Knight's fault. He messed up my day. I climbed out of the arena dirty after being run over by the horse. My camera was covered with dust.

What Knight didn't know, or care about, was that I'd photographed rodeos all over the state of Colorado. When I stood in the arena near the chutes at rodeos, the best spot for a photographer, no other stock contractor had ever complained.

A writer from the Pueblo Chieftain must have seen and heard Knight eject me from the arena. She interviewed and photographed me and wrote an article titled "Liberation Day a Dud for Golden Girl at Fair." (She referred to women's liberation which commanded much attention in the news at that time.)

I didn't think of my work as "liberated," I just thought I was using a skill I had. But Knight may have seen me as a threat. A cowboy told me later, "Harry Knight is from the old school. He thinks if a woman is seen in the around the bucking chutes, it makes the event look less dangerous." Whatever his reasons for kicking me out of the arena, Knight didn't stop me from working. I continued to photograph rodeos for several years.

That was then –  the early l970s. Fast forward to 2003 or 2004. Lyn Alweis, an old friend and excellent photographer for the Denver Post, met me at a Starbucks in East Denver. For many years she had photographed news events in the Denver area. Lyn was a few years younger than me.

She was working, and had her laptop on the table as we drank coffee and chatted.

"What's it like working at the newspaper now?" I asked.

"It's completely changed with Internet and email," she said. "I don't even go into the paper anymore, I just email in my photos."

"No darkroom at the paper anymore?"

"All gone."

I wondered how Lyn would interact with the staff. And how would photographers and journalists compare notes and give each other ideas if they emailed in their work?

"That sounds isolating," I said.

She nodded as she typed.

I remembered my darkroom where I developed my rolls and made prints. It was hard to believe newspapers didn't need darkrooms anymore.

Even though I enjoy memories of taking action photos of bull riders and bronco riders, I don't want to get stuck in the past. Now I take shots of my grandkids with my iPhone. While it feels good to savor memories, I believe it's also important to make new ones. And that's exactly what I'm doing.

 

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