My Search For America’s Forgotten Black Cowboys

It all began on assignment for a another project in New York City.

Watching a group of African-American horseman dressed as Cowboys parading through Times Square. I needed to find out more. So some ten years later, I set off on my first of two road trips around the Southern States of America in search of a community that many of us were unaware that existed.

Introducing the history, individuals, culture and heritage of this fascinating community. The ‘Forgotten cowboys’ is a creative project that I want to share with the world.

"This is an extremely attractive subject and body of work. The photographs are spectacular, showing us an utterly familiar universe into a completely different light -- literally; the subject matter, at the same time profoundly personal, historical, and universal, is rich and compelling". 

“The inherent nature of this story - to tackle a subject that, in the collective unconscious, is long gone and assimilated with fiction, and making is a reality - a different reality, and a current one- is extremely smart and fascinating. It is also a brilliant way to tackle racial issues, and a very touching one, as it stems from complex childhood memories and ultimately speaks to all of us—a fantastic rewriting of what we all thought was a well-known story.”

Pauline Vermare is a French photography curator based in New York City and the cultural director at Magnum Photos, New York. She was formerly a curator at the International Center of Photography (ICP), the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation in Paris.