For award-winning Western photographer R. J. Kern, depicting and uplifting young people growing up on the farm is the key to preserving the Western lifestyle.
"The more time I spend with young people growing up on farms and the more I learn about their plans for their futures, the more enthusiastic I am to use the tools I understand, pixels and light, to carry their stories and experiences to a broader audience," says award-winning photographer R. J. Kern, who has done just that with his arresting book of portraiture, The Unchosen Ones.
David With Sheep and Grandpa, Pastoral Study, 2020.
Kern was at the 2015 Minnesota State Fair when he came up with the idea for the book. "After the 4-H Lamb Lead show, I met the fourth-place finishers, Josilin, and her sheep, Tantor," he says, "I could see Josilin was disappointed, yet she held her head high. Her determination inspired me, and I made a portrait of them."
Captivated by the next generation of young people "who may or may not be the stewards of rural communities and economies in our future" and by the universal experience of not being chosen at some point in life, Kern began the project in earnest in 2016. He returned to visit his subjects in 2020 to see how they were faring and photograph them again. This time, because state and country fairs and 4-H competitions had been cancelled due to the pandemic, he met them at their own farms, in pastures and barns. Ultimately, he photographed 64 kids from 10 different countries across Minnesota for The Unchosen Ones, which came out in 2021 (M. W. Editions).
Emma and Ethan with sheep, Blue Earth County Fair, Minnesota, 2016
The title honors "those not chosen for the grand champion ribbons, the youth and their animals at the end of the judging line," but who nonetheless exhibit a profound bond with the animals they've cared for and the dignity, effort, and emotion involved in all their hard work.
That's precisely what Kern captures in portraits that possess quiet power precisely because these are kids who didn't win. His photographs are made all the more poignant and revelatory by the formal qualities of his lighting and setting, which came about courtesy of a malfunction. "My strobe lights failed to flash during my initial session, so I used the diffuse ambient light of the overcast skies," Kern says. "This serendipitous accident produced a soft tonality I love: The light fell onto my dignified subject, rendering the shadows as though from a painter's brush. I was drawn to the aesthetic."
Rylee and Nelly, Clay County Fair, Minnesota, 2016
And it's clear he was drawn to the "heartwarming and inspiring" kids themselves and how open the young people were about their doubts, fears, and frustrations. What they taught him, Kern says — and what his photographs manage to convey so movingly — is "how to overcome adversity, rise to a challenge, and the incredible ability to put things into perspective. Many of these kids maintain a positive attitude and realize the importance of attitude, an important life skill we can all benefit from."
Shania and Greg, Hubbard County Fair, Minnesota, 2016
An exhibition of R. J. Kern's The Unchosen Ones will be on view April 18–June 24 at Oklahoma State University Museum of Art in Stillwater. The book is available on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, and wherever fine books are sold. Visit the artist at rjkern.com, where you can purchase a signed copy.
