Beyond the Arena

The cowboy quipped with a big, fat smile, “hey, how ya doing there Tonto?” as he and his buddy drove past in their golf cart. Moments later, what appeared to be their female better halves also drove past me smiling. My first day as a photographer at Cheyenne Frontier Days commenced with an ignition of feeling. I did not know how to comprehend their question. They were smiling and clearly enjoying themselves, yet, to me, their statement was blatantly racist. How do I take this? “I had that horrible gut sucking feeling and thought to myself, “Here I am on assignment for Rear Curtain magazine and this is my first impression of the people I was to photograph. Well, at least it should be a challenge.” A bit of my background first. I am Chinese, Korean, and Caucasian, born in Seoul, Korea as an American citizen. Currently, I reside in Boulder, Colorado. I have dark eyes, dark hair, and I tan easily. Among the other photographers at Frontier Days, I was the only one to my knowledge shooting within the documentary genre focusing on life outside the arena. Most members of the media were there to catch the action within the ring and report daily to their editors about scores and stars, winners and losers. My story topic was not preplanned, and with assistance from my editor, Ray Ketchum, I let the story naturally evolve. Despite my rather unique welcome, I realized I had to find out more about the kind of people at Frontier Days, the kind of people who would call me Tonto with a smile on their faces.