Dudley Barker

Raised on a ranch in Central Texas, Dudley was already familiar with the western way of life but cut his own path in rodeo photography. “I went and hung out in the arena. I didn’t have anyone to pattern myself after,” he recalls. “I’d get out and capture the action and run like hell. It must’ve been my Marine mentality, or I didn’t know any better.”

When Dudley started photographing rodeos in 1976, he shot with film. Digital photography—let alone camera phones—was unheard of. If he timed it right with his flash, which had to recharge after each shot, he could get eight photos out of an eight-second ride. Dudley learned