rodeo photography: hayesville, NC
This could almost be a pitch for a reality TV show. Take an event photographer from the UK, drop him into the middle of a North Carolina forest and get him to photograph a rodeo. OK, maybe not, but it did go through my mind.
Finding Hayesville, NC (pop. 311) on the map is not easy. It's just above the Georgia state line east of Chattanooga. When you find it, look to the northeast and the green of the Nantahala National Forest.
It's early evening. We are travelling the twists and turns of the Tusquittee Creek Road, heading deeper into the forest. Before the sun goes down, between the trees, on our left, we glimpse the Hiwassee River. Sections of the river have local names reminiscent of earlier times. We pass Schoolhouse branch and Mull Cove; Greasy Creek is just ahead. It's a good job we have a map; the sat nav stopped working a while ago. We pass through Tusquittee, take the bridge over the river, and the Cutworms Corral is in sight. If you come this way and you're lucky, a cowboy will be at the gate to meet you. Then you'll know it's rodeo time.
This literal dot on the map is where I find myself. It's late May, the evening is warm, and I'm about to shoot my first rodeo. We park our rental car and feel the need to move away from it quickly. Everyone else has a truck or an SUV. I've enjoyed driving our little Toyota up to this point, but it's suddenly feeling just a little inadequate.
The show starts, as it always does here, with the singing of the National Anthem and a heartfelt thank you to the service personnel. From then to the end of the night, I am strangely in my element.
Steer wrestling, tie-down roping, barrel racing, and bull riding hadn't played much of a part in my experience growing up in South London. Apart from TV, I don't think I'd even seen a bull until I was out of my teenage years, so the prospect of riding one seems more than a little crazy. To be fair, it soon became apparent it seemed pretty crazy to most of the crowd. But ride them they did - even if, in most cases, it wasn't for very long.
Much of the time, I don't have a clue what was going on. But the people are welcoming, and the imagery is terrific. I feel like I've found a seam of gold in these North Carolina hills, and I just can't stop digging. This is the second day of a two-day meet, and I'm kicking myself for not being there on day one.
I take my hat off to the brave women and men who take part; they put on an amazing show. This certainly won't be my only visit to a rodeo, and it's not the last time I will navigate the Tusquittee Creek Road.
