B&h Photography Podcast

Top shot © Ron Tarver Cowboy lore has deep roots in American culture. Yet, black cowboys have lived pretty much under the radar until recently, when songs by pop culture icons Lil Nas X and Beyoncé went viral and catapulted the black western aesthetic into the limelight. In today’s show, we’re getting the inside scoop from two photographers who’ve been fully immersed in these vibrant communities since long before they became a top fashion trend. Separated by a generation in age and with pictures spanning from film to digital, we follow Ron Tarver and Ivan McClellan from their early years in Oklahoma and Kansas, to the urban stables of Northern Philadelphia, the legendary Roy LeBlanc Rodeo in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, and beyond. Listen in and discover how the popularity of a single newspaper assignment led Ron to the pages of National Geographic and a career defining body of work. In a similar manner, Ivan’s hunch to act on a chance invitation morphed into a passion project that reconnected him to his midwestern ro