Landry Major is an award winning photographer of Fine Arts based in Los Angeles, California. She strives to create images that remind us of the bygone, simpler days that have been such an important part of our history. Keepers of the West highlights these days, where hard work and stoicism, as well as the grace and beauty of living under the western skies were an important part of everyday life. Landry hopes to capture the way of life of the cowboy and the family-run ranch before they are gone. We were excited to reach out to Landry to learn more about her work, and her answers are below.
Tell us how you first connected to the Griffin Museum.
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I live in Los Angeles, but am originally from Boston. I was thrilled to see that Paula was going to be at the LACP Reviews the first time I was attending. I was lucky enough to get a review with her. I brought my large platinum prints as well as my silver gelatin prints to show her. She was incredibly kind and generous during our meeting. At the end she said that seeing my work and meeting me had made her whole trip worthwhile. I was over the moon, her encouragement meant the world to me.
How do you involve photography in your everyday life? Can you tell us about any images or artists that have caught your attention recently?
I spend an hour or two every morning checking in on the business side of my photography. I’m on Instagram every day, I always love jmacneillphoto’s posts. She is out of Lancaster, PA and does a lot of rural images which of course speak to my heart. I take small moment images on my phone or a pocket camera I carry with me on my walks. I have way too
many images of my dog Scout who goes everywhere with me.
Please tell us a little about your series Keepers of the West, and how it was conceived.
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My series Keepers of the West is an ode to the family run ranches of the American West. It’s about being connected, and living in harmony with the land and the animals. I was lucky enough to go on a shooting trip with Norm Clasen who shot all the Marlboro campaigns for years. Norm is wonderful and generous and it sparked this project. Long term projects really are about relationship building, and going back and shooting ranching families for years. I have made some incredible friendships over the last years due to shooting this project. I hope my respect and love for the people and the land are evident in this body of work. This series also inspired me to learn the art of platinum printing. I spent an incredible week with master printer David Michael Kennedy learning to print at his studio outside Santa Fe.
Has there been a Griffin Museum exhibition that has particularly engaged or moved you?
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I loved the Life Narrated By Nature exhibit by Rhonda Lashley Lopez. We met at a Radius book workshop a few years ago and I immediately fell in love with her work. It’s so lovely and moving, I covet it. Rhonda is a wonderful person as well so that even makes it better.
What is your favorite place to escape to?
My favorite place to escape to is our home in Portland. It is very secluded in a forest, and the quiet restores me. Everyday we walk into the forest and just wonder at the beauty. I love the rain and fog, everything is so green and lush.
What is a book, song or visual obsession you have at the moment?
I am currently obsessed with the book, The Redemption of Wolf 302: From Renegade to Yellowstone Alpha Male. I was
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lucky enough to meet the author Rick McIntyre and hear him speak about the wolves he has watched over in Yellowstone for years. The deep and connected lives of wolves in a pack is fascinating to me. Of course, I love all things wild.
If you could be in a room with anyone to have a conversation, who would it be and what would you talk about?
If I could be in a room with anyone, it would be with my husband Marshall Herskovitz because I would be sure it would be a loving, creative, intelligent conversation. It’s such a gift to have one’s partner also be a creative person
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who is happy to wonder at the quality of the light outside your window with you.
