Select Page Where horses and riding are a way of life: Ron Tarver’s journey to document the Black cowboy experience Posted by TheConversation | Jun 11, 2021 | Syndicated | By Nick Lehr, Arts + Culture Editor Photographer Ron Tarver grew up in Fort Gibson, a small town in Oklahoma where horses, cattle and Wrangler jeans were embedded into the rhythms of everyday life. His grandfather was a cowboy admired for his roping abilities, and many of his family members owned ranches in the area. But he wanted “to get away from horses,” and in 1983, he landed a job as a staff photojournalist at the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he found himself drawn to a range of subjects, from storefront churches to star jump-ropers.