September 08, 2008

Buffalo Bill's Roadshow


click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

I discovered something rather amazing on Friday at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, not far from the Cliff House...

It's the work of Thom Ross, and he has put a whole lot
of work into these highly decorated plywood stand-ups of Indians and their
horses.

When I first saw the installation I thought it was a unique celebration to the American Indian, but as it turns out it is a recreation of a turn of the century
panoramic photograph of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, in which one hundred of his warriors posed on their horses in that same spot.

To quote SF-Gate:  "The life-size plywood cutouts, above, lining the beach just below the Cliff House, are the work of Western artist Thom Ross, who based the richly colored tableaux on a famous black-and-white photo of Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Show, below, that was taken on the same stretch of Ocean Beach in 1902.   "It's a Valentine to my hometown," said Ross, a San Francisco native who lives in Seattle and sports a Vandyke much like the one worn by the Buffalo Bill on the beach.   Ross, who re-created Custer's Last Stand at Little Big Horn with 200 wooden figures in 2005, will put on his Wild West show through Sept. 15."


CLICK to visit my Daily-Duo
CLICK to visit KittyBLOG -- the daily doings of my cat.
CLICK for what I call my BIG site.


Your comments are invited and welcome.

12 comments:

kjpweb said...

Wonderful and enjoyable! Excellent detail! Good work!
Cheers, Klaus

Anonymous said...

very beautiful work you did here

photowannabe said...

Darn, I am going to miss seeing this magnificient art tableau. We are bringing some friends into town on the 21st. Oh well there will be plenty of other things to see anyway.
Don, I really love the closeups. I hope they stay in their beauty. Hate to see them ruined by taggers or something like that.
Guess I'm a bit pessimistic this morning.

Janice said...

Wow, you really captured the colors and details, and how much work the artist put into each piece.
I went on Sunday when it was foggy. A different feeling, but still amazing.

Louise said...

Wow, that IS a lot of work. Very unusual and intriguing.

Ivar Østtun said...

Very cool. Nice details :-)

Fish Whisperer said...

Very cool post.
Cheers

Roses and Lilacs said...

I love that first photo. The perspective is wonderful. This was a fun post to see.
Marnie

ChrisJ said...

They are spectacular -- and what a great idea to celebrate. Too bad I live so far away. I would love to have seen them.

Anonymous said...

When a boy, my father saw Buffalo Bill when he toured in Wales. Seems extraordinary to me.

Louis la Vache said...

Very interesting - "Louis" et Mme la Vache will have to check this out. "Louis" thanks you for the 'head's up'

Neva said...

this is a stunning display.

 
under construction