Random Excellence: Jason Lindsey

Photo by Jason Lindsey

From photographer Jason Lindsey's campaign for the Wyoming Office of Tourism and Travel Wyoming. If you can read the text, you'll see why it's a cowgirl instead of a cowboy. Who knew that Wyoming was "the Equality State"? Not I. It's a classy, nice-looking ad that doesn't try too hard—that being a good thing.

Jason Lindsey was a photojournalist and agency art director before becoming a commercial assignment pro. He says, "I love shooting in water up to my neck, swimming with sharks, and laying in the mud; but I also clean up pretty nice when I'm shooting in homes and offices! I'm up for anything with an amazing team of people working by my side. There is no better way to live!" He was named as one of the 200 Best Ad Photographers Worldwide by Lürzer's Archive magazine, a trade publication for the advertising industry, in 2018/19. You can see more of his work at his website.

We'll be driving off the mountain when we come
I have vivid memories of vacationing in Wyoming as a kid. We went to a dude ranch called the 7D Ranch, named after crusty old white-haired DeWitt "Dewey" Dominick and his wife Lee and the other five members of the Dominick clan. It was great fun riding horseback in the mountains all week. Dewey's signature trick was to bring newcomers across the mountain range from Cody, the nearest town, pretending to gaze into the distance while the car wandered all over the road. He'd be telling you about a truck of chickens that went over a precipice as the car careened towards the edge of the drop. When you arrived at the ranch, ashen-faced, the rest of the guests would all be sitting in lawn chairs, applauding. You had passed the initiation rite.

Old Dewey is long gone by now—as is Randy, a tough, wiry cowboy who looked like James Dean. Randy used to go on epic benders on the weekends and then guide trail rides on Monday mornings so hung over he made us "dudes" ride in silence. He himself would say nothing but "sh*t," stretching that little epithet out to more syllables than seemed possible. Despite being notorious for driving while flagrantly under the influence, Randy was killed by a drunk driver in Cody when he himself—Randy, I mean—was stone cold sober. He must have been all of 25 by the time he departed for that great watering hole in the sky, or even younger.

Another guest while we were there was Peter Duchin, famous as a high society pianist and the son of 1930s bandleader Eddy Duchin. All I remember about him is that he refused to play the piano for us, saying he was on vacation.

It was also the vacation where my Dad produced his best book of travel photos, at least in my humble opinion.

A great vacation. That's WY, indeed.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

RubyT: "My parents are from Sheridan, and that town is imprinted on my heart. Although I grew up in Texas, we visited my grandparents every summer. I have no interest in Texas, but I am driving to Sheridan the first week of June. Wyoming is my favorite place, and I am concocting a plan to move West next year. Imagine my surprise seeing this at TOP, so soon after it came in my email. I did know it was the Equality State—my mother must've told me from before I can remember. I also turned 19 the last day that 19 was the legal drinking age in Wyoming, the last state to raise the drinking age. I was legal until midnight. They offered me a free anything at the Mint Bar. I had a Coke."

Comments

[Xf Mj]

Lovely photo with a backdrop capturing some of Wyoming's rich and beautiful landscape.

Now we all know that history is a complex thing, and here is one historian's take on Wyoming's push for equal voting rights for women.

[Kenneth Tanaka]

Cue appropriation by Richard Prince.

[Dave Van de Mark]

My most memorable visit to Wyoming was a backpack in my 20's up a canyon in the Teton Range and hiking round the "backside" of the Grand Teton, then down to Jenny Lake. Strangest of all, was the name of a beautiful area near the crest of the range, called Death Bench. My friend and I could look north along this exquisitely beautiful rolling highland and see the Grand Teton, yet another days hike away. If someone had a miserable ending there, it is hard for me to "picture" it.

[Patrick Dodds]

This is my new favourite TOP post.

[David Zivic]

Talk about the "Money Shot". Putting this Great Photo and putting it together with Womens rights together along with the State of Wyoming, this is a perfect example of "Random Excellence".

[David Babsky]

All I keep thinking of is Richard Prince.. http://www.richardprince.com/photographs/cowboys/#/detail/1/

[Joel]

Would this be the gentleman that you knew?

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42605353/dewitt-dominick

According to this site, Mr. Dewey was a doctor.

When I read a story about people, whether online or in a book or newspaper, I feel somewhat compelled to find out what eventually happened to them.

[That's he. I had forgotten his wife's name was Lee. Also that he had been a doctor. --Mike]

[PDLanum]

Having been raised in Wyoming - this is not news. Wyoming is a great place to grow up but if you really want have a reasonable life, move away during your working years. The people who live in and around Jackson Hole are mostly East/West Coast imports and they are not representing the whole state of "natives". Great image though, and ten to one the model got back on a airplane and is now doing more "work" in LA or New York.

[Khürt Williams]

XfMj beat me to it regarding the truth behind Wyoming giving women the vote. I had learned that Wyoming was trying to attract women for lonely horny men.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/wyoming-grants-women-the-vote

Given what we know about the whitewashing of the history of the American cowboy, I'm disappointed the cowgirl isn't black. But then again, the African American population in Wyoming is about 1.1% of the total population of Wyoming.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/lesser-known-history-african-american-cowboys-180962144/

[Steve Higgins]

The first thing I thought of when I saw it was the old Marlboro adverts.

But maybe I'm just growing cynical in my old age...

[Dave]

The Jordan Motor Car Company featured a woman in a sporty automobile in a Wyoming setting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Motor_Car_Company

One of the more well-known auto advertisements of all time, capturing the romance of the early automobile.