The Guts and Glory of "Indian Rodeo"

"A wild-horse race is one of those sporting events that's hard to believe ever existed, much less persists in the age of personal-injury lawyers. The goal is to saddle and ride unbroken horses as fast as possible, typically in under two minutes, and what makes it particularly crazy is that teams of cowboys, half a dozen or more, compete simultaneously."

"Murphy was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and has lived most of his life in Rapid City. He's a lobbyist by trade, same as his father and one of his grandfathers, and his client list over the years has been as diverse as Warren Buffett's portfolio: from liquor distributors, gaming associations, and tobacco companies to a teachers' union and a hospital."

Jeremiah M. Murphy has spent more than a decade photographing wild-horse races and scenes of a deeply American sport. He captures chaotic, dangerous events in which teams of cowboys wrestle unbroken horses to saddle and ride them at high speed. Murphy grew up in Sioux Falls and has lived most of his life in Rapid City. He works as a lobbyist like his father and grandfather and has represented a wide range of clients, from liquor distributors and gaming associations to a teachers' union and a hospital. He began photography as a child with a Mamiyaflex and a 35-mm camera and taught himself by his late teens.

Read at The New Yorker