Jim Krantz occupies a unique place in the history of contemporary art and photography. His pictures of cowboys were re-photographed by Richard Prince and became not only the highest-selling images ever to be auctioned, but were used as banners by the Guggenheim Museum when they held their 2007 mid-career retrospective of Prince’s work.
It was not an accident that Krantz’s work was selected by Prince. Krantz had studied with Ansel Adams and Paul Caponigro, and since the 1980s had been mixing his personal work with assignments and campaigns for companies from Samsung to the U.S. Marines. Focusing largely on the American West, Krantz is known for his combination of technical skill and the emotive resonance of his imagery. He is constantly pushing the boundaries of the medium using every format from traditional cameras to drones.