Men on horse back
Photograph by Jim Richardson

One for the Weekend: Joy of Pictures

Contributing editor Jim Richardson is a photojournalist recognized for his explorations of small-town life. His photos appear frequently in National Geographic magazine.

Plenty of images never see the light of day. Some didn't quite fit the story or they got shoved aside by more precisely relevant images or they failed to make the grade for entirely arbitrary reasons. We all have images like this. Poor orphans locked away in file cabinets or hard drives, never quite making it to the gallery wall or the double truck spread.

But I still like them. And if being in the stock photography business or the gallery business teaches you anything, it is that pictures have to be seen to have a life. So some of this is about putting the picture to work. And some of this is pure pleasure mixed with the hope that someone else might get a little pleasure from the offering.

So here are the guys from the Haythorn ranch in the Sandhills of Nebraska heading back to the chuck wagon after a day of branding. Enjoy!

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