Craig Scarmardo and Cheyloh Mather at the Boerne Rodeo, Texas, USA, 1991
(catalog number 215R-528-004)

DJ STOUT, the art director at Texas Monthly, assigned me to spend a month traveling across Texas to photograph small‑town rodeos. He chose me for this project because of my work on the Indian circus. It was a beautiful assignment and a great experience.

I had never been to a rodeo before. Everything about it was fascinating. The atmosphere was totally Texan. There was only one thing that I found terribly disturbing and frightening: it was the sport of bullriding. After a while, I couldn't even watch it because it was so dangerous. I saw countless men and young boys being thrown and stomped on by bulls, only to be dragged out of the ring bleeding and unconscious. An ambulance always stood by, ready to take the seriously injured to the nearest hospital.

I found it incredible that children learned to bullride as well. You can't imagine the tears and bruises that I witnessed. These two young boys were excellent bullriders. You can tell by their attitude that they knew it. Even though they were still children, they displayed a machismo beyond anything I had ever seen.

Six years later, Texas Monthly hosted an exhibition of their best photographs. The photograph of Craig and Cheyloh was in the show. I saw them again at the opening party: they had become handsome young men and were still bullriders, as macho as ever.