I’ve always been interested by what it means to exist as part of a culture. In particular, by the ways in which identities emerge within the public sphere, formed and moulded by shared values, beliefs and histories. Photography has provided me with a means through which to explore these processes. I make work in-the-world, seeking out visual threads that can be unraveled to reveal the forces and dynamics that structure cultural life.

“Looking West”, is a documentary series that examines Australian Rodeo subculture. The work treats the Rodeo as a site in which to explore performative masculinity and the iconography of the Cowboy. It aims to destabilise notions of masculine identity by revealing its construction through social performance.

In particular, “Looking West” proposes that long after the West has been won, and the Frontier closed, the Cowboy exists as a set of visual ideals through which masculinity is articulated, utilising the sartorial and symbolic codes of the Western hat, boots, shirt and belt buckle. – Laurence Watts