Ellery Aufdengarten 1958-2020

I first met Ellery Aufdengarten in the winter of 2010, as he politely but firmly explained to me the trespassing laws of the state of Texas after finding me making pictures on one of his pastures outside Marfa. After getting his email address and promising to send him some pictures, we went our separate ways. so began our relationship.

Before long I was a regular visitor to the ranch, sometimes making pictures but often just joining Ellery as he checked his cows. We would often get together at the Lost Horse Saloon or back at my trailer to have a Shiner and chew the fat. I got to know his family and they became my Texas family.

Ten years later, I was travelling on a rural road in Saskatchewan during a heavy summer thunderstorm when I received a call from Ellery's elder son, Mitch. Ellery had died that morning while working cattle on a pasture not unlike the one where we first met. He died in the saddle.

The photographs I made with his help on the ranch simply could not have happened without Ellery. They represent my view of a time and place.