Two Women Look West Photographs of King Ranch by Helen C. Kleberg and Toni Frissell

Thanks to King Ranch Museum of Kingsville, Texas, this fascinating exhibit is on loan to the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center.  It was opened to the public in Duncan, Oklahoma in early May when King Ranch received the 2009 Trail Boss Award. 

In the mid-twentieth century, Helen C. Kleberg and Toni Frissell photographed the now-legendary King Ranch of South Texas.  Kleberg (1902-1963), a self-taught photographer, and Frissell (1907-1988), a New York fashion photographer and photojournalist, captured the life of the Ranch - from the cowboys branding cattle and vaqueros rounding up the remuda to family gatherings - as well as the vast and varied landscape of more than 825,000 acres.  Their work reveals not only their relationship to King Ranch, but their friendship and their practices as photographers.  

Toni Frissell met Helen and Bob Kleberg in 1939 at the race tracks in Saratoga Springs, New York.  Shortly thereafter, she was invited to visit the Ranch, which she photographed several times over five years.  Frissell created a photographic essay that became securely wed to the public image of King Ranch for many years.

Kleberg and Frissell developed a friendship based on their photographic pursuits and their mutual admiration of each other's work.  Their differing perspectives on King Ranch offer an unprecedented view of the world in which Kleberg lived, and which Frissell was invited to enter. 

For additional information on King Ranch go to http://www.king-ranch.com   

This is a must on your travel plans for this summer.