All Nighter in Cowtown
Fort Worth, Texas - 2024
In Fort Worth, the road under the
Stockyard sign rises as it moves west
away from the heart of Cowtown. This
allows for much deeper visuals of the
historic area and, from a filmmaker’s
perspective, offers the potential of a
wider narrative. If the road was flat, the
location would still be strong, but it is the
hill that transforms the potential.
Fort Worth is a fully paid-up member
of the Americana Club and the city’s
rise in fortunes over the last 10 years
is testimony to the role the Stockyards
played in the old west. The cowboy is
the most enduring symbol of America
and Fort Worth is the cowboy’s spiritual
home. Little wonder, therefore, that this
stretch of road will host nine million
visitors this year.
There are few hotter areas in American
real estate right now than this pocket of
Texas and I sense that Taylor Sheridan
has played something of a role in the
growing awareness of cattle culture. The
lore of the cattle markets and ranches no
longer only speaks to Texans.
I wanted to shoot this tableaux at first
light to amplify the neon lighting in the
background and create more of a visual
mood. That ambition made for greater
challenges with the camera, but I just
hadn’t seen a picture like this before and
that always energises me. The location
will always be there and that forces the
cameraman to push a few boundaries in
the quest to be authentic. It is just not
good enough to shoot the Stockyards
during normal working hours. More of the
same is never an option.
I think the vignette plays to the vibe of
Cowtown. This is a storied place where,
over the last 160 years, there must have
been many late nights of hard drinking
and those on the street at dawn, will be
going to bed, not getting up.