Watson Set to Photograph his 600th Career Event in Louisville
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – Veteran photographer Andy Watson is used to being the one capturing iconic moments in PBR history. Whether it was Michael Gaffney’s 96.5-point ride on Little Yellow Jacket or 2008 World Champion Guilherme Marchi’s 600th career ride, Watson has been the primary man behind the lens at PBR events for the past 26 seasons.
This weekend, though, hopefully someone is available to snag a photo of Watson in Louisville, Kentucky as he will be the one making history.
The PBR Lucas Oil Invitational will be the 600th career premier series event of Watson’s career.
“Who would have thunk it?” Watson told PBR.com this week before letting out a chuckle. “I don’t think this can compare to Guilherme Marchi’s record at all. Riding 600 bulls is insane. But it is just so hard to wrap my head around. 600 of anything is a lot. Let alone weekends on the road in other cities shooting bull ridings. I am proud my name is on photos from the beginning of this sport to the current days. It is a privilege to have covered most of these guys entire PBR careers and every bull they have been on in the PBR.”
The Montana native worked his first PBR event in Billings, Montana, in 1996. He then quickly became to photograph more and more PBR events, primarily west of the Mississippi River, before becoming the bull riding league’s primary photographer at the beginning of the 2003 season.
The photography industry has certainly evolved and changed since Watson, 49, first stepped foot on the PBR dirt over 25 years ago. Social media was in its very, very infancy and Watson even used to have to develop film at home a few days following an event. The mediums and ways people consume photography may have changed, as have the cameras Watson works with, but one thing has always remained the same. There are still those moments when Watson is peering through his camera when the crowd erupts during a bull ride, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand up.
Watson still recalls the moment Gaffney rode Little Yellow Jacket in Nampa, Idaho, on April 25, 2004. To this day, that photo is arguably his favorite photo he ever shot in the arena.
“There are some photos that are super cool, jammed up images, and then there are some that are really cool shots, but have more of a meaning and story behind them,” Watson said. “The one that kind of tops it was Gaffney on Little Yellow Jacket in Nampa. It definitely can be argued some of the rides last weekend (in Kansas City) in the short go were ranker, but at the time that is how the scoring went. It was World Champion Bull versus World Champion cowboy and the short go at the end of the event.
“It was just electric. Everyone was on their feet. It was wild and loud. A great bull ride and a great man that made a great bull ride. The whole atmosphere, you get caught up in it. That photo is one that really stands out in my head.”
Of course, Watson has quite a few options to choose from if he were making his all-time list of favorite photos.
Watson, and his company Bull Stock Media, is the PBR’s visual encyclopedia. Watson believes he has somewhere in the range of 1.5 to 2 million photos in his PBR archive, and many weekends that library is being dissected by the best bull riders in the world.
There is usually a small folding table that is outside the locker room of every Unleash The Beast event that is only a few feet wide, but it is a common location of budding activity on a weekly basis.
On the table is an Apple MacBook Pro laptop that is a time machine to 26 of the PBR’s 28-year history.
Watson is usually perched on the table with one foot on the ground and his camera beside him, but he isn’t focused on snapping any additional photos at the table.
Instead, he is helping riders find pictures of themselves that will be forever treasures of a career that will one day end.
It is here at his table where Watson has had some of his greatest joys during his almost three decades photographing the PBR.
Yes, Watson’s images have been blown up and posted on billboards all across New York City, including the World’s Most Famous Arena – Madison Square Garden.
Yes, his photos have appeared on the side of the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and up and down The Strip.
And yes, Watson’s stunning, electric and even sometimes terrifying photos of man vs. beast have reached billions of people all over the world on social media and billions more in magazines, newspapers, websites, posters, billboards, ticket stubs, movie covers, calendars and much more.
It has been a remarkable career to say the least for a self-taught Montana photographer from the scenic area between Grand Teton National Park and Bozeman.
Many photographers would die for the kind of career and reach of Watson’s.
However, for as grateful, humbled and proud of how far he has come since first experimenting with a camera he received from his parents as a high school graduation gift, it is that small folding table where Watson has stayed true to his roots.
Thirty-plus years into his career and Watson still cherishes the moment when a bull rider looks through each frame of his 8-second bull ride.
“I love seeing pictures on billboards and pictures on the side of the MGM, Madison Square Garden and all over New York, but it is all of those guys,” Watson said in 2018. “It makes me proud that when they go back in 20, 30, 40 years, and they will show their grandkids their bull riding career, that they will have Andy Watson signatures on every single one of them photos.
“It is cool to know I captured that super important part of their career, their history and their legacy. That is probably one of the things that brings me the most joy out of what I do.”
The relationship between photographer and rodeo athlete is engrained in Watson.
He attended Casper College in Wyoming and was a member of the rodeo team from 1990 until spring 1992.
The bareback rider began to take a few photography classes and later applied for a part-time job on with Donna Davis in the college’s photo lab.
Davis, who became Watson’s first mentor, eventually let Watson use some free film and paper and said, ‘Go shoot stuff.’
Therefore, Watson went to where he felt most comfortable – the rodeo arena.
It wasn’t before long that Watson was beginning his tradition of setting up a folding table and selling pictures, then at college rodeos for $5 a pop.
“This photography thing sure seemed a lot easier than rodeoing,” Watson thought to himself.
“Over the next couple of years it didn’t take very long to realize I could buy a lot more beer with photography money then I could buy with rodeo winnings,” Watson, chuckling, said. “I still loved to ride, but I just shifted strictly to rodeo photography instead of trying to ride.”
By the time the spring came in 1992, Watson was hauling a camera case up and down the road and leaving his riggin’ bag in the dust.
Becoming a rodeo photographer did much more than lead to a couple six packs of Keystone Light beer. It led to him meeting his future wife, Jacey, who was then a barrel racer, and a lucrative career with endless memories.
Watson “never” expected to meet his wife through photography.
“As soon as we started dating, she went back through all my proofs and made me print her a bunch of photos. I gave her a discount,” Watson said.
He then laughed.
“Looking back on it, I should have charged her double.”
Jacey has long been Andy’s biggest partner and supporter.
She is the master behind the scenes, managing the Bull Stock Media database, uploading photos, creating meta tags, sending live photos for PBR social media platforms and handling contracts and much more.
“Without her, I couldn’t do a fraction of what I do now,” Watson said.
One of Watson’s teammates on the Casper College rodeo team was PRCA photographer Dan Hubbell’s daughter.
Hubbell would help get Watson on his way to long and successful career.
Watson was taking photographs within two years at the National Finals Rodeo.
He would shoot his first PBR event in Billings, Montana, in 1996, and his first World Finals a year later.
Taking photos has brought Watson together with the cowboys he shoots, but his photos bring generations of fans together.
The conversations he has at that small table are only the beginning of further conversations between riders and their families, friends and fans.
“Who doesn’t like photography?” Watson said. “Photography does bring people together. People do show those images thousands or millions of times. It is a talking point and something everybody can relate to.
“It is a huge part of our society.”
Watson is an integral part of the PBR and its history, and he has no plans on slowing down anytime soon either. His goal remains to continue cementing marque moments for future generations, while also bringing those frozen moments to life on various social media platforms to help grow the sport.
“I can’t wrap my head around 600 to even say I want to make it 750 or I want to make it 1,000 or whatever. I don’t know. I just know I want to make that number as big as I can. I want to keep going to events until I feel like I can’t do my job good enough. In that period of time, I hope I do groom somebody to do everything it takes to do this job that could step in behind me seamlessly and keep it going.
“The best part of the job is how it changes. It is never the same. The bulls buck different. The guys ride different. There are new guys coming in with new personalities. It changes. I love stepping in that arena and never knowing what I am going to step out of that arena with.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andre Silva/Bull Stock Media
© 2021 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.