Photographer Emilie Chatigny had one of the best seats in the house for the Kioti Pro Rodeo, which rolled into Ormstown for a fourth year to sold-out crowds on May 8 and 9.
Chatigny has been photographing rodeos for only a few years, but she has been part of the horse competition world for much of her life. Her family owns the Écuries Châtigny in Saint-Étienne-de-Lauzon, and she remembers joining her father at competitions from when she was very young. Eventually she developed an interest in rodeos and wanted to become more involved. After meeting a rodeo photographer, she bought her first camera and fell in love with the sport through her lenses.
“There’s a lot of action. And often, the lighting isn’t very stable. Sometimes it’s indoors. Sometimes it’s outdoors. Sometimes there are shadows. Sometimes there are lights flashing from all directions. You never really know what might happen,” she explained, while acknowledging that capturing the fast action of a rodeo is especially challenging.
Chatigny admits it can be hard to find the right angle, but she has developed a knack for being in the right place at the right moment. “I position myself right outside the barriers. I am not going into the ring, for now,” she said. “It is pretty unpredictable and all kinds of things happen. You have to be ready for that,” she added, before admitting this includes a certain element of risk.
This was her third year photographing the Kioti Pro Rodeo, and while she came away with some stunning images, she said that while the location is particularly challenging for photographs, she has been warmly received. “There’s a real spirit of mutual support there. That’s what I really appreciate about Ormstown,” said Chatigny. She also enjoys the crowd.
“It’s really the emotions experienced out there that grab me. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s like these vibrations that I try to convey through my photos. It is one of my main motivations,” she explained.
Her photos are also useful for the cowboys, who often ask to see images of their performance. “I can help competitors to understand what happened to them. I like that aspect also,” she said, before noting that for her, rodeo photography is about a lot more than a clear image.
Chatigny will be on the road for the summer following the Black Creek Rodeo circuit as well as several others including the International Pro Rodeo Association (IPRA) and the Northern Rodeo Cowboy’s Association. Her partner, David Ladouceur, also works the different circuits as a bull fighter, where he protects riders thrown from their bucking bulls. “He is aware of all the risks. Me too. But it’s true that my camera shakes a little more when the bulls are on the move,” she admits.
The pair travel with a trailer so they stay on site during events. Chatigny says they hope to be back in Ormstown for Black Creek’s season-ending rodeo on October 2 and 3.