The Man Who Shoots the West

Jay Dusard is a living American photographer who has made Arizona his home for over 60 years, seeing it first in 1960 on a visit, moving here for good in 1963. He has documented his adopted state and much else of the West in stunning photographs that demonstrate his love and knowledge of the subject.

He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1981, using the time and resources to produce The North American Cowboy series. They were first shown at the Phoenix Art Museum in 1983. In 1985, Jay teamed with Alan Weisman, the celebrated writer, on La Frontera and traveled entire U.S./Mexico border documenting the lives of the people along that line. Those photographs and writings were published in 1986 and received the Four Corners Book Award for Nonfiction two years later. His solo book Open Country was a long look at the Western landscape, published in 1994, photographed, mostly, with one of his homemade cameras.

Jay rarely carries a camera with him. He does not point and shoot at anything that moves; he does not shoot thousands of exposures hoping to later edit through them to find one that will work. His method is measured and articulate. Most everything Jay focuses his large-format camera on has embedded in it an important and timely message. More times than not, it gets published. His work includes film, music and writing.

He is the best of friends with a delightful sense of humor. Don’t let the cowpoke outfit or casual demeanor fool you for a minute; this is a bright, well-read, keen man with a lifetime of solid work behind him.

–Mark McDowell

 

 

“The Booth Western Art Museum is honored to have been selected as the home for Jay Dusard’s archives and legacy collection. We believe Jay is one of only a handful of 20th-century photographers who truly captured the spirit of the American cowboy and the West itself. The Booth has had a long relationship with Jay and with this gift his images will be part of the museum’s treasures in  perpetuity. The Booth was the first institution to show his ultra-large prints, measuring up to four by eight feet, in 2008, and hosted a retrospective of his career in 2018. We will also feature his work in an upcoming survey exhibition of our permanent collection.”

—Seth Hopkins

Executive Director Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, Georgia