Alex Bex

Memories of Dust

Memories of Dust is a post-documentary project exploring traditional masculinity in my home state of Texas. In this series, I examine the cowboy, an important male figure shaped by popular culture, and its place in a fast-changing landscape. In a time marked by the resurgence of masculinist values in Western societies, it is essential to rethink classic representations of masculinity and highlight the impact of visual media on gender constructs. The cowboy remains a longstanding symbol of North America. This hero of my childhood is still romanticized by popular culture as the „real man“: the strong silent type, lonesome, self-reliant, and emotionally distant. The myth of the cowboy has played a major part in defining an ideal of Western manhood. As I travel across Texas and spend time on ranches and at rodeos, I immerse myself in the daily life of the local ranching community. I learn about the realities, routines, and hardships of the cowboy, and compare them to the conventions of the cultural myth. I aim to capture images that offer a more honest perspective of the rancher, moments among men that are rarely represented, yet important to normalize. By including traditional visual codes and symbols of the Western narrative in my photographs, I play with common representations of the archetypal cowboy and explore the boundaries of this male stereotype. Through my project, I reflect on the romanticized male traits that shaped me and question the concept of manhood I grew up with. By revisiting the narrative of an influential icon, I document my evolving relationship with masculinity to encourage meaningful conversations about its changing role.