This post has been moved to OpenChutes.com. All future postings of Powwows, Indian Relay Races, Rodeos and Rendezvous will be posted there from now on exclusively. So if you’re looking for new images and posts for all those events attended this year, plus all the old posts posted on BigShotsNow.com check out OpenChutes.com. See you there!

A gathering of the Crow nation was held this past summer where over a thousand lodges were set up along the Little Bighorn river. There was one camp set up somewhat away from the main camp, out a ways from the river, nearly a half mile or so on the tall grass prairie, that reached out and stopped me in my tracks. I photographed it from every angle and viewpoint I could think of and the more I worked with it the more I felt drawn into the history of this event and its surroundings and the easier it was to see this as a representation of how things must have looked in 1876.

The sound of the cars and trucks going past on the highway below receded and the trappings of modern society seemed to fall away and all that was left was this image in my viewfinder, the passage of time and my connection with it all. It felt like I could have taken the next step and been back there crouched in that tall grass for whatever experience would have happened next. It was an extraordinary feeling that even though the day was in the mid 90’s raised goose bumps on my arms.

Because this view looked like it was straight out of that time period I felt that the shot I took right out of the camera wouldn’t do it justice if it was presented as a straight digital recording of the details as they looked at that moment. The day was hot and there was an occasional breeze that rippled across the tops of the long grass and washing over me brought a strong earthy smell of dry dusty grass, along with the clean scent of the open prairie. I could hear the distant shouts of people coming from the main encampment down on the river, and closer, the high-pitched whinny of a horse tied to the frame in front of a lodge. This was as close as I could get to that past moment in time when this was their reality.

Processing this image was a mixture of frustrating, exasperating hours as I added this and subtracted that to get the feeling that I had when I was there kneeling in the grass, watching, shooting, trying to take it all in. There are numerous layering’s of filters and tints and fading’s and general manipulations to obtain the feeling that is closely akin to what I experienced while taking this image. All the primary details are there, none of the main elements were added or subtracted, it has just been enhanced in the hope that by adding texture and the other effects I could recreate a feeling rather than show crisp modern detail. It isn’t exact but it does take me back to that afternoon at the Crow Camp, Montana Territory.

The image should actually have an additional line added to the title which would read ‘Circa 2014’. But as I have some doubts as to what the year actually was at the time I did this project I left it off. For me it could have easily been 1876 as 2014.