There are perhaps few images more iconographic of the American West than ‘Stars and Stripes’ waving in the wind from a small porch, the Marlborough cowboy on his horse and the curvy glass bottle of a Coca Cola. One other image would be the all-American rodeo girl. Always perfect in her appearance, the rodeo girl oozes the self-confidence of a young woman; the hair and make-up rarely out of place; glittering shirts, tight stylish Wrangler jeans and custom-designed fringed chaps; and meticulously accessorised with big belt-buckles and a ten-gallon cowgirl hat with a silver tiara. Acting as a good-will ambassador for the rodeos, this group of strong-minded women promote the popular sport and inspire girls across the country - while at the same time fighting fiercely for the title of being crowned ‘Miss Rodeo America’ at the annual Rodeo show in Las Vegas.

At the age of ten, Lisa Eisner was one of the young girls looking in awe at the local rodeo girls in Cheyenne; a medium sized town along the Crow Creek River in the North-Western state of Wyoming. Seeing the girls in their glamourous outfits, riding past her on their horses in the Rodeo parade, she eagerly wanted to be one of them - and from this age, fashion would set the path for Eisner’s future. A riding incident in her late teens may have ended her dreams of becoming Miss Rodeo Wyoming, but the burning fire for fashion had not been extinguished.

After her graduation at Wyoming University, she moved to New York looking for work experience - and while an intern at Mademoiselle Magazine she travelled three months to Paris to look into all the fuzz about Issey Miyake, Comme des Garcon and Thierry Mugler; the new fashion-kids on the block. By the late eighties, Eisner had climbed the corporate ladder, moved to Los Angeles with her husband and now the West Coast editor of American Vogue. During all the years in the world of high fashion, she always kept the rodeo girls close to her heart.

Eisner’s interest in photojournalism was present from the start of her career and her talented eye for the perfect angle and captivating composition was a vital part of her position at Vogue. Later, she shifted her focus, bought a Leica camera and started reading all about photography that she could get her hands on. As in many other times in her life she relied on her fabulous networking skills and asked her good friend, the renowned American photographer Bruce Weber, for tuition. Steadily and surely, Eisner artistically worked her way back to Cheyenne to document the rodeo girls. The result was a celebrated series of work published in her first book ‘Rodeo Girl’ in 2000.

In the series, Eisner takes the viewer on a visual journey and record a stylistic part of American history that is still-going-strong. From the preparation, the dressing and make-up and the thoughtful moments of waiting in solitude - then leading up to the shows of bright-white smiles and cheering the crowds. As a documentary, Eisner’s series is refreshing with a perspective clearly influenced by her life in fashion.

Three of the works from 1997 show a glimpse into the largest of the rodeo festivals, ‘Cheyenne Frontier Days’; a ten-day annual festival of riding, roping, rodeo queens, music and food in the town where Eisner grew up. It is a story told in monochrome and saturated colours, and full portraits versus close-up shots of details and accessories. Miss Rodeo America, the current queen of the reign, in her white western blouse with red stars and the characteristic milk powder-white cowgirl hat. In contrast, in Miss Rodeo Idaho the artist crops the shot to make the viewer focus on the glamour details: the purple sequin-embellished shirt, the golden leather and fringes on the chaps and the perfect red nail polish. And what seems to simply show a deserted parking lot inFrontier Days Fairground, is almost symbolic of the Western states. The dusty soil, the green grass - and a blue sky, white façade and red cowboy-with-calve motif, representing the three colours of the American flag.

‘Rodeo Girl’ succeeds as it raises above the clichés portraited by Hollywood and the tobacco companies, documenting not only a part of the rural lifestyle in the Western part of the Unites States, but also shows empowered women in a male dominated sport. It explores layers of nostalgia of the old America that the viewer cannot help to appreciate, especially later in life.

Personally, the rodeo girls were far more than a project of interest to Eisner. They became a source of inspiration throughout her life - and still is today.

After the release of the book, the style of the rodeo girl became a cultural whirlwind and have made a lasting influence. Among many projects that followed, the artist’s work was a key inspiration to Madonna’s music video “Don’t tell me” (2000) and to fashion designer Tory Burch in 2014. The photographic series, ‘Rodeo Girl’, was exhibited in 2000 at Jan Kesner Gallery in Los Angeles and Colette in Paris. Eisner lives in California and continues her artistic practice, which today includes photography, fashion design and jewellery.

From the book ‘Rodeo Girl’, three works were released as photographic editions in an exclusive collaboration in 2001 between Lisa Eisner and Eyestorm. Miss Rodeo America, Miss Rodeo Idaho and Frontier Days Fairground were shot in 1997 and are chromogenic-type prints in editions of 150, from which only 25 were produced of each. The prints are signed, titled and numbered on verso.

You can find more details and information about the three photographic editions and Lisa Eisner on her artist page here.