Never Don't Pay Attention: The Life of Rodeo Photographer Louise L. Serpa

by Jan Cleere

Annotation (from Baker & Taylor)
Louise Serpa was a trailblazing woman photographer. The first woman to be sanctioned to shoot photographs inside pro rodeo grounds, she was also a feisty cowgirl with a style all her own. Her work helped make the careers of many cowboys and her story is a classic tale of Western spunk and achievement.

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2015

Reviews

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louise Larocque Serpa often said she was born in the wrong place, to the wrong woman, at the wrong time. Born in 1925 and growing up in New York society with a mother who was never satisfied with her unpolished daughter, teenager Louise eventually found happiness when she spent a summer on a Wyoming dude ranch. Later in life, she settled in Tucson, Arizona, where her introduction to photographing rodeos came about after a friend invited her to watch his children participate in a junior rodeo competition. Using a cheap drug-store camera, Louise began photographing youngsters as they bounced and bucked on small sheep and calves, then sold the pictures to proud parents, beginning a career that would span fifty years and take her to the highest pinnacles of rodeo photography. This biography of the legendary rodeo photographer Louise Sherpa, reveals the story of a woman who made her own way in a man s world and who helped shaped the character of rodeo. Interviews with her contemporaries and family and photographs from her family archives add flavor to this lively portrait of a remarkable Western woman." A fascinating story.

[Susan Sparks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this book by chance in a garden gift shop- mesmerizing read about Louise Serpa and her long career in rodeo photography. Truly a woman that took no crap, and ended up being a strong figure in the male-dominated world of rodeo. Her life is glamorized in anyway - in fact quite transparent as to her relationships and experiences while she remained focused on her work.

[Rachel Santino · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read about a unique and talented woman. It’s packed with details from her early life up until her death. Not to be cheeky, but she grabbed life by the horns and this book by Jan Cleere captures that. It’ll make you want to go to a rodeo.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was so interesting to learn about this Southern Arizona woman. Learned all about the rodeo circuit and photography.

[Katrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonky little book, but I learned some Arizona history.

[Lonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this book only because it was loaned to me and because I love Louise Serpa's rodeo photographs. I learned quite abit about her... she was quite a character and a very successful self taught photographer. If you love the rodeo and photography, you know about Louise Serpa. That said, I was disappointed in the book because so much of it was just quotes from other stories/interviews with Louise.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lively written biography of a legendary woman photographer who made her own way in a man's world and who shaped the character of rodeo. She often said she was born in the wrong place, to the wrong woman, at the wrong time. She was the epitome of tough elegance!
This is the best of Jan Cleere's 5 books detailing the lives of early Western Pioneers.