Blog Post 10: Research

This is a photograph of an area known as Gravelly Range, which is the location of my primary project photograph. This scene, however, shows taller mountains, more trees, and, as a whole, more scenic elements than the background of the project photograph. This is most likely because the focus of this photograph is the entire background while, the focus of the primary photograph is the foreground. But, more importantly, the featureless background of the primary photograph is being used to emphasize the emptiness, or loneliness that accompanies the various other difficulties of the shepherding profession. Note: This is more of a locational context rather than cultural or historical, but I wanted to include it because it altered how I perceived the background aesthetics of the primary photograph.

Many sheep herders around the time of the Great Depression were Basque immigrants. The majority of these people came to America with no intentions whatsoever of becoming shepherds; they simply ended up falling into it. Because of this, they weren't prepared for the lonely conditions and empty land, and, as a result, many of these shepherds were overwhelmed by a condition they called "txamisuek jota" which meant "struck by sagebrush" (Laughlin 18). I wrote about the lonely conditions in previous posts already, but I had no idea that it was severe enough to the point that a special term was created just to name it. Solitude is clearly a major aspect of shepherding and of my project photograph.

Sheep herding was (and still is) a form of art to many shepherds. It requires much proficiency, and the shepherd must always be mindful of predators. Additionally, shepherding "demanded total teamwork between the herder and his animals" (Laughlin 20). This, once again, makes me look at the dog in the project photo, and review the alignment of the dog and herder. Though the herder is positioned above the dog as the all-knowing master, they are also both close enough to be viewed as a team, side by side. This relationship wouldn't be seen if, for example, one were in front of the other, or on a cliff, overlooking the other. The fact that the herder is positioned on his horse above the dog is equally important, though. "Without a leader, without clear rules and without respect for the leader there is no team" (Nickelsberg 5). Thus, the leadership and teamwork relationships must be viewed both together and individually to fully understand the dog and the herder.

Many hard-working shepherds would have much rather put their efforts towards college or some other profession. They disliked herding sheep "24 hours a day, including weekends and holidays" on top of the loneliness (DeRuwe 12). This makes me look at the shepherd in my project photograph with even more respect. Maybe he was forced into sheep herding by conditions of the Great Depression. He has a rugged look, supporting the fact that he works hard every hour of every day no matter what conditions.

Works Cited

Laughlin, Mike. "Basque Ranching Culture." 2009. Lee Raine. 18 Sept. 2009 <http://www.cowboyshowcase.com/basque.htm>.

Nickelsberg, Ellen. "Large Flock Sheep Herding: The Working Relationship." 2009. Ranch Dog Trainer <http://www.german-shepherdherding.com/sheepherding.htm>.

DeRuwe, Milan. "Farming and Sheepherding during the Great Depression: A Reminiscence by Milan DeRuwe." 1 Jul. 2008 <http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=8626>.