Straight West is a book of ninety exquisite and moving black and white photographs about the deep interior of the American West, a place whose people are defined by their relations to animals and the land. The country of Straight West is enormous, stretching from the Mexican border to Montana, but it is also intimate, a matter of heart as well as geography. Lindy Smith's moving, powerful photographs capture a world that is too little known, a landscape of ranch-work, self-reliance, and hard-won trust, a place as much defined by dogs, sheep, cattle, and horses as by humans. As Verlyn Klinkenborg writes in the accompanying text, "there is no place in America like the ranching West for enunciating what it means to come from outside - outside the West, outside the ranch-life. And Yet there is no place in America more welcoming when you make it clear that you understand the call of the work at hand, no place where the work itself is more social...because so much ranch-work is solitary by nature, any work that can be done with friends and neighbors, like gathering cattle, becomes not only a neighboring but also a gesture of cultural solidarity. It contains a degree of formality - a sense of how things are done - that is easily lost on outsiders." This is a book that no one who loves the American West, or fine black-and-white photographs, will want to miss. (b&w photographs, 101/4 x 101/4, 120 pages) Sixty stark, black-and-white photographs evoke both the majesty and the mystery of the contemporary American West. In a series of striking portraits of ranchers, ranch hands, and ranch animals, Smith utilizes an intimate context to convey the austere--often-overwhelming--vastness of the terrain. Scenes shot in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana effectively reflect a unique, increasingly endangered landscape and lifestyle. Toned in sepia and originally printed in platinum, these modern images have a deliberately vintage appearance and appeal. Together with Klinkenborg's resonant text, these photos offer a rare glimpse into the ever-intriguing American West. Margaret Flanagan Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved The 60 black-and-white photographs in this collection...reflect an almost disarming intimacy....a world you won't find just off the interstate. -- American Way magazine Straight West is a book of ninety exquisite and moving black and white photographs about the deep interior of the American West, a place whose people are defined by their relations to animals and the land. The country of Straight West is enormous, stretching from the Mexican border to Montana, but it is also intimate, a matter of heart as well as geography. Lindy Smith's moving, powerful photographs capture a world that is too little known, a landscape of ranch-work, self-reliance, and hard-won trust, a place as much defined by dogs, sheep, cattle, and horses as by humans. As Verlyn Klinkenborg writes in the accompanying text, "there is no place in America like the ranching West for enunciating what it means to come from outside - outside the West, outside the ranch-life. And Yet there is no place in America more welcoming when you make it clear that you understand the call of the work at hand, no place where the work itself is more social...because so much ranch-work is solitary by nature, any work that can be done with friends and neighbors, like gathering cattle, becomes not only a neighboring but also a gesture of cultural solidarity. It contains a degree of formality - a sense of how things are done - that is easily lost on outsiders." This is a book that no one who loves the American West, or fine black-and-white photographs, will want to miss. Lindy Smith, who took the photographs in Straight West, was raised in Iowa and spent childhood summers camping in the West with her family and her Brownie camera. A graduage of Bennington College in Vermont, Lindy has photographed many of Buck Brannaman's clinics at Little Goose Ranch, and for the past seven years has been documenting ranch life in the American West. In 1996, the Ucross Foundation awarded her a residency to continue this project, and in 1999 the foundation held an exhibition of her work. Her photographs have been published in Sports Afield, Gourmet, This Old House, and House & Garden. Verlyn Klinkenborg, who wrote the text of Straight West, is the author of the widely acclaimed Making Hay and The Last Fine Time, along with articles in most of America's major literary magazines. He is on the editorial board of The New York Times. Used Book in Good Condition