Page 2 - Ivan Mcclellan News Today

The US photographer has become synonymous with Black cowboy culture. It’s a beautiful world, he says – but he fears for its future

Photographer Ivan McClellan has spent nearly a decade documenting Black rodeo culture, which has long been overshadowed by popular depictions of cowboys.

Athletes from around the country and spectators from all over the metro area converged on Sunday June 17, at the Portland Expo Center, for a historic first annual 8 Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo. This sold-out event was organized by Portland-based photographer Ivan McClellan, who has been documenting Black cowboy culture across North America for the better part of the last decade. Attendees arrived throughout the sunny afternoon fitted for the occasion–whether a Stetson or a New...

Photographer Ivan McClellan grew up watching Western movies and Bonanza reruns, and going to rodeos with his family in Kansas City. But as a kid, he never saw earnest depictions of cowboys that looked like him. “I didn’t know a thing about Black cowboys,” says McClellan in a recent interview with the Mercury. Any depictions of Black cowboys he did see were as “a punchline”—Sinbad in The Cherokee Kid, or Cowboy Curtis on Pee Wee’s...

Like a rider wrestling a bull beneath bright lights, reconciling national narratives is not a pastime for the faint of heart.

The rodeo was on June 17 and is the first known event of its kind in Portland, highlighting Black rodeo culture.

The rodeo will be on June 17 and will be the first known event of its kind in Portland. It will be highlighting Black rodeo culture.

Reclaiming the Black cowboy for Juneteenth

Eight Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo creator Ivan McClellan sat down with KGW to talk about the inspiration that led to creating the all-Black rodeo experience.

Portland photographer Ivan McClellan said the first time he went to a Black rodeo, it made an indelible impression on him. And now, just two years later, he has organized his own rodeo, centering the experiences of Black cowboys and cowgirls.