Ropes and Reins, Joy and Pain: George Hendrix
Detail of “Those Boots, Them Chaps, That Tattoo”
by George Hendrix
“Not only is the rodeo an adrenaline rush of frenetic action, but the colorful personal styles of the barrel racers, ropers, bronc and bull riders are a photographer’s dream come true.”
Carbondale Arts presented “Ropes and Reins, Joy and Pain”, a solo show by photographer George Hendrix. The exhibition opened to the public on Friday, July 17, and was on display through August 28, 2020, along the Promenade Gallery wall (located inside The Launchpad at 76 South 4th Street in Carbondale).
In 2012, as George Hendrix eased into retirement and away from a heavy travel schedule, he finally got the chance to get better acquainted with the valley he’d lived in for a dozen years. Carbondale’s weekly summer rodeo immediately caught his eye. Ever since, he’s been hanging out around the arena’s pipe-rail fence most summer Thursday evenings. And for people-watching (and photos) George doesn’t think there’s a better place in the valley than the bleachers and grounds of the Carbondale Wild West Rodeo. They’re packed with a happy cultural stew of west slope country folk, Roaring Fork Valley townies and a global collection of tourists from places like Pennsylvania Amish Country, Paris, and Peking.
“Ropes and Reins, Joy and Pain” was generously sponsored by Forum Phi, an award-winning Architecture & Interior Design Firm with offices in Carbondale and Aspen, Colorado. Forum Phi thoughtfully provides a collaborative architecture and interior design environment, with client-centric and sustainability-driven processes. The team specializes in design-led renovations and highly crafted new builds, with an expanding portfolio of work across the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond.
This exhibition was on exhibition July 17 - August 30, 2020.
George Hendrix, photographer
I’ve been in love with photography since I was a kid pouring through the thousands of fading photos brought home from World War II by my dad, a Naval aerial reconnaissance pilot. I bought my first serious camera in 1974 and paired it with a journalism degree four years later. Since then, I’ve mostly been a writer first—newspapers, magazines, then a freelance pen-for-hire—and a photographer second. Measured by passion, the order has always been reversed.
In 2012, as I eased into retirement and away from a heavy travel schedule, I finally got the chance to get better acquainted with the valley we’d lived in for a dozen years. Carbondale’s weekly summer rodeo immediately caught my eye. Ever since, I’ve been hanging out around the arena’s pipe-rail fence most summer Thursday evenings. And for people watching—and photos— I don’t think there’s a better place in the valley than the bleachers and grounds of the Carbondale Wild West Rodeo.
Beyond the rodeo arena, I’m a photographic dabbler. You can view some of my work at www.georgehendrix.com, including a digital companion to the gallery show. I also share my road trip photos on Instagram at @twolanedaydreams, and a really random collection of other images at @earlysnows.