Delta Hill Riders by Rory Doyle
“Rory Doyle’s passion for telling the stories of the Delta Hill Riders is apparent both in his images and in what he intends as a giving back component - to enliven the history of these mythic cowboys by having them tell their stories present and past in the area schools. To connect elders and peers with a new generation in the Delta is admirable in itself. To do so in the service of preserving a little known slice of history is all the more important.
Rory takes us into settings through moment-driven images that are powerful and varied compositionally with a strong use to tonality to convey meaning beyond what is shown. As we pass from setting to setting there’s always a strong sense of place that freezes the nowness of the people in the pictures. - Mike Davis, Judge”
Project Proposal:
A recent article in Smithsonian estimated that just after the Civil War, one in four cowboys were African American. Yet this population was drastically underrepresented in popular accounts. And it is still. The “cowboy” identity retains a strong presence in many contemporary black communities.
This ongoing documentary project in the Mississippi Delta, “Delta Hill Riders,” sheds light on an overlooked black subculture — one that resists both historical and contemporary stereotypes.
The project began in January 2017 when I attended a black heritage rodeo in Greenville, Mississippi.
The body of work reveals how deep and diverse this community is. I’ve been invited to black heritage rodeos, horse shows, trail rides, “Cowboy Night” at black nightclubs, and subjects’ homes across the Delta.
On a personal level, I've been welcomed by these folks in a way I could not have imagined. And because of that, it’s been the most engaging project I've worked on. It’s a story that's particularly timely with the current political environment, and a renewed focus on rural America.
Delta Hill Riders is a counter-narrative to the often negative portrayal of African Americans. Instead, I have captured a group of riders showing love for their horses and fellow cowboys, while also passing down traditions and historical perspectives among generations.
Ultimately, the project aims to press against my own old archetypes — who could and could not be a cowboy, and what it means to be black in Mississippi — while uplifting the voices of my subjects.
The Taking Focus Grant would go a long way in supporting me as I continue to travel across the 18 counties that make up the Mississippi Delta to work on the project. The story has already had an impact in the community, educating Deltans about a group of riders that have largely been overlooked.
Giving Back Component:
One roadblock I’ve faced throughout this project is an inability to uncover documentation of Delta cowboy culture through the years. Simply put, there is very little documentation of how this population started and how it has changed through generations. My best information comes from oral history accounts. And all the elder riders I’ve spoken with say in the old days, there were way more cowboys.
My proposal with the Giving Back Component is to rely on the local population to gain a stronger historical understanding. I would use the funding to pay elder cowboys/cowgirls to visit local K-8 schools in my county. The riders will bring their horses and talk to students about black cowboy history, and local riding history. Students will be tasked with the assignment to talk to their parents/guardians and find out if their family also has ties to cowboy culture. I’ll collect their findings, and thus have new contacts to interview for historical information.
We at Taking Focus, Inc. would like to greatly thank Mike Davis for his belief in our organization’s mission. We at Taking Focus Inc. believe that photographers should give back to the communities that they have built a relationship with through their projects. This grant opportunity encouraged Rory Doyle to go above and beyond just documenting what was in front of his camera. By Rory proposing a giving back component that connects generational understanding of the history of the black cowboys in the Mississippi Delta, he recognized how aligning his project goals with our organization’s mission would ultimately give a resilient voice to the community he was documenting. Rory’s proposal to help educate the younger generation about the their connections to an under documented culture is key to leaving a lasting change for the Mississippi Delta as a whole.
We would like to greatly thank our generous underwriters Charleen and Kenny Sacks for making this year’s grant possible. We are very thankful for their belief in the documentary process and believing in Taking Focus, Inc. to support a project that directly impacts furthering a community through our giving back component.