PORTFOLIO

BY ANOUK MASSON KRANTZ

WEB: ANOUK KRANTZ.COM | INSTAGRAM: ANOUKMASSONKRANTZ

No Service in Cowboy Country

French-American photographer Anouk Masson Krantz started her journey with an insatiable curiosity for the authentic cowboy lifestyle. Her images tell stories of people humbled by nature, animals, and a life beyond the tyranny of social media likes.

BY

Ican’t stop looking at the black-and-white images of cowboys. There’s something incredibly fascinating about the photographs. Maybe it’s the composition, the open sky, the outfits, or perhaps the nakedness of it all, the seemingly randomly taken pictures that exude intimacy, authenticity, and strength. Anouk Masson Krantz has done what few have been able to. She has portrayed a culture so misrepresented in movies, books, and TV shows that it’s nearly impossible to know how a cowboy’s or rancher’s life looks today.

So maybe it’s with good reason that the people within this culture are reluctant to let others in. They are afraid of being misunderstood, used, or ridiculed. For Anouk, getting there took a lot of time, effort, humility, and luck. But once she was in, she met the most wonderful, generous, and helpful people. People who do not spend their days hunched over smartphones but look up to see the world around them.

When at last I reach Anouk, she is in the car.

“Perfect, I’m hitting the road next week, so I’m glad you called now. I’m about to reach the office, but let’s keep talking. What can I do for you?”

Humility will become a theme throughout the interview, and Anouk is a prime example herself. Our hour together is like an awakening. Her past four years with cowboy families, three books, and over 15,000 miles on the road have made their mark. It makes even me look up.

An Outsider Looking In

“It has been a fantastic journey, arriving as an outsider into their world. Everyone thinks they know about cowboys, but that world is so misunderstood. I wanted to see it for myself. That’s the best way to do it, better than seeing a movie or reading a book. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last five years. I told my friends that I was going to create a cowboy book. People thought I was crazy, that it would never sell. My German and Dutch background helped me here. I thought, okay, I’ll show them, and now, not five years later, it is the best-selling cowboy book of all time.

What was your entry into this world?

“I held a lecture about my first book about wild horses, and this woman from Texas was in the audience. Someone asked what I wanted to do in the future, and I answered that I would like to make a book about beautiful, untouched landscapes where people also live. I was thinking about cowboys, and after I’d mentioned that, the woman from Texas approached me the next day with a handwritten note with the phone number of a rancher.

“I reached out to him and was invited over. It was hard to win their trust at first, but today we are like family. We talk on the phone a lot. And that opened the door to give me access to this world. He, in turn, gave me a phone number on a piece of paper, and that’s how it went. It’s old school, writing down a number in pencil. Old-school but nice. After that, I kept getting suggestions from the people I met. ‘You have to meet so-and-so in Nevada,’ ‘My cousin in Texas…’ and so on. I have met nothing but lovely people who have wanted to help for the full four years. Help me understand the culture to truly create a window into their world and let others learn about it.”

YOU GENUINELY GET TO KNOW PEOPLE BY SHARING STORIES AND EXPERIENCES, NOT FOCUSING ON GETTING AS MANY LIKES AS POSSIBLE. WE MUST LEARN THAT AGAIN. WE NEED TO LIFT OUR GAZE FROM THE PHONE AND LOOK EACH OTHER IN THE EYES, TALK TO EACH OTHER, AND LISTEN TO EACH OTHER.

How did you gain the trust to get so close to your subjects?

“It wasn’t easy. I don’t know if I would let someone in if someone came knocking on my door, asking to use me for a photo project. They’ve been subjected to so much prejudice, so they are careful about whom they let in. I had to get them to understand what I wanted to do, and you can only do that by spending much time with people and getting to know them. They understood what I wanted to do when they saw what I did and wrote. We were like family, and they allowed me into their lives.

“It’s all thanks to them that I could do this. These aren’t people I found on Facebook or Instagram. I met them through recommendations of other cowboys or ranchers. That’s the best way. It makes it more authentic. Nothing is arranged. No one is a model, they’re just sharing their lives with me.”

How do you choose your subject matter?

“I don’t really choose so much myself. I shoot whatever they are doing that week. Everything in their lives depends on the weather. Something that’s been planned can quickly change because of a change in weather. If they’re sleeping in teepees, you are too. If they’re herding cattle, you do the same. You follow along, help out, and take pictures. That’s what creates a credible result.”

Anouk describes how her life with the cowboys reminds her of her childhood in France.

“After school or work, we all helped make dinner, sat down together to eat, and then everyone helped with the dishes and clearing the meal. It’s the same thing here. Everyone eats together and talks about their day. Many people stare into their phones all day and don’t truly live. I think we’re losing the art of spending time together.

“People are so obsessed with showing their perfect lives on social media. There is no such thing. Everyone’s life has its ups and downs. It’s like the weather. Sometimes when you are out, the sky is clear for miles around you, and then suddenly, dark clouds roll in, so it starts to rain, and the wind blows. But that passes. That’s how life is, too, not as perfect as people try to present it on social media. Live your life instead of pretending to. You genuinely get to know people by sharing stories and experiences, not focusing on getting as many likes as possible. We must learn that again. We need to lift our gaze from the phone and look each other in the eyes, talk to each other, and listen to each other. That comes naturally to the Cowboys because your phone has no service out there, so the first thing you do is look around you. You talk to people, or you’re on horseback in the most astounding landscape, and all you can do is take it in.

That sounds like a wonderful life.

“It’s not overly romantic,” Anouk says with a laugh. “Sleeping with 30 other people in a small room or a freezing teepee and not being able to shower can be tough. But it also brings us closer together. I always get up early to catch the light and experience the magic hours of dawn when the sun rises over the horizon.”

Did you always know how to ride?

“Not really. I taught myself how to ride just as I did with photography. It’s from the heart. I went to school for photography, but it really comes from within you. It’s not something you can learn in class.

“I try to bring as little equipment as possible. I have one camera body and two lenses, that’s it. After all, the camera is just a tool. I create the images in my head. I don’t like when the images have a lot of clutter. When I worked at Cartier in New York, I learned all about lines, spaces, and design, which helped me a lot in creating my images today. I like the big sky. You can see that in my images. The sky is so wide when you’re out with the cattle. In New York, you barely see the sky. It’s fascinating. The people I’ve met in the last four years of working with these books

VAD? | VAR, STAT/STAD

TEXT OCH FOTO: JONAS LARSSON

Första gången jag träffade Den Matt Pollitz så hade han sin Volvo-verkstad i en gammal plåtlada nere vid fiskebåtarna en bit ner på Market Street i Ballard, Seattle. Nu ligger nybyggda National Nordic Museum där, då lekte Matt med tanken på att hans verkstad kunde bli en interigerad del av museet. Det hade varit otorligt cool, men nu blev det inte så.

Därför blev jag glad när jag såg att han omlokaliserat till en annan del av Ballard. En verkstad för gamla volvobilar ska självklart ligga i den genomnordiska stadsdelen, ingen annanstans. En intressant sak är att bilarna är relativt rostfria här, visserligen är det fuktigt i Pacific North West men det snöar sällan i Seattle och man använder inte vägsalt, så mossa är ett större problem än rost …

Förutom att renovera de gamla trotjänarna så har han börjat elkonvertera dem också. Det bästa av två världar, även om en B18 alltid kommer att vara en B18.

GATUADRESS | HEMSIDEADRESS are people who love where they live and the animals they care for. They take care of the land and ensure it’s not sold to some big town investor who wants to build a massive casino, for instance.”

I TRY TO BRING AS LITTLE EQUIPMENT AS POSSIBLE. I HAVE ONE CAMERA BODY AND TWO LENSES, THAT’S IT. AFTER ALL, THE CAMERA IS JUST A TOOL. I CREATE THE IMAGES IN MY HEAD. I DON’T LIKE WHEN THE IMAGES HAVE A LOT OF CLUTTER.

In her latest book, “Ranchland: Wagonhound,” Anouk follows the people of the Wagonhound Ranch in their daily duties. The ranch in Wyoming covers over 300,000 acres, more than 165,000 soccer fields in other words: pretty big. The ranch’s owner grew up on a farm but went to school and worked in finance for years. He later moved back to Wyoming and bought Wagonhound, at the time, a much smaller ranch. Through the years, he has bought land nearby as it’s become available. He loves the land and makes sure there isn’t garbage or clutter around. He is also trying to restore the land to what it looked like a hundred years ago. The ranch’s animals have a good life on the enormous grounds, where they can roam and graze freely.

We talk about the popular TV series Yellowstone. She tells me that the show’s creator, Taylor Sheridan, wrote the prologue to her book, “American Cowboys.”

“He’s a great person. Both feet are firmly planted on the ground. Soft-spoken, humble. You can’t believe he’s one of the greatest scriptwriters in Hollywood.”

That’s what I think Anouk is trying to show in her books: people who live in harmony with themselves and nature, humbled both by that task and by life. She tells a fascinating story of the contemporary cowboy, his family, and their life. Another life. A good life for someone ready to look up from their phone.