PORTLAND, Ore. ( PORTLAND TRIBUNE ) — At rodeo events, Ivan McClellan has suffered a broken arm and cuts, and he has run from bulls and jumped over and ducked under fences. It ain’t easy being in rodeo — even for a photographer documenting the people living and playing in the western culture and lifestyle. The job can be perilous.
“I’m taller than most people, and I always crouch down to get the shot from the angle I want,” he said. “That’s the most harmful thing I do.”
3 Portland-area sushi restaurants among best in the US, according to Yelp
McClellan grew up in Kansas City on five acres of land, and the extent of his “cowboying” happened after church. The family would drive by a ranch, and he would beg his grandma to stop, so he could ride a horse. It exposed him early to cowboy culture.
The Northeast Portland resident doesn’t do rodeo himself, but McClellan has found a niche as a rodeo photographer, particularly traveling to Black rodeos and immersing himself in the world of Black cowboys and cowgirls. He shoots portraits, behind-the-scenes photos and some action, all with his trusty Fuji X-E1 camera and 32mm Zeiss lens, and created the living photo collection called “Eight Seconds.”