Becoming the Cowboy Photographer was often a humiliating process.
A high school dropout from Los Angeles, I struggled to find my place in the world or integrate into something resembling a normal life. I was an unemployed filmmaker in Hollywood, chewed up and spit out by the creative industry. Demoralized and desperate for a fresh start, I began living in my car, traveling across the country photographing cowboys. Inspired by the outlaw country music I was raised on — artists like Marty Robbins and Johnny Cash — I felt a calling to photograph a world entirely different from my own: the American West.
Family and friends rarely held back their jokes or concerns. And I don’t blame them. Why would they? Any reasonable person would’ve suggested a safer path. I couldn’t be reasoned with. At the end of my rope, I bet everything on myself — buying groceries on credit cards, burning the candle at both ends, working myself to the bone.
Creating art was the only thing that could quiet my mind. Completely devoted to the craft, I’d spend countless hours in some rural McDonald’s mooching free McWi-Fi just to post my images and stories to an audience of none. I had an unwavering conviction to chase what most would call a fool’s dream – being a Western photographer.
As I photographed these cowboys, something in me was changed. My stone heart began to soften, and a spiritless life gained new meaning. God had broken me down to build me up into something new. Though I resisted it at first, folks began calling me the Cowboy Photographer.
The click of that shutter became my redemption song. Each frame, a prayer. Through the art, I healed. In the light I captured, I found God. My camera isn’t just a tool — it’s a testimony. Every frame is proof that Jesus Christ can turn a broken life into a story worth telling. ✝️❤️🔥
#thecowboyphotographer
How I Healed Through Cowboy Photography | Seth Stern | Capture One Stories
From Pain to Purpose, Seth Stern shares how documenting cowboys helped him find empathy, faith, and a voice through photography.
Watch the full video here and on YouTube.
This is the Historic Boley Rodeo. The longest standing Black Rodeo in American history. Photographed by @sethmichaelstern in Boley, Oklahoma, 2025.
“What feels like the middle of nowhere to some is the center of the universe to others. And it’s their stories that draw me in—rooted in red dirt, dignified in quiet defiance. It’s you who inspires me. In a world that, at times, demands you to be invisible, you shine bright and make them squint.” - Seth Michael Stern
“Family is the most precious thing in life.” – Seth Stern
Join Seth Stern as he takes us behind the scenes of his approach to creating authentic family portraits, capturing not just how people look, but who they are.
I have 14 billboards of my photography installed in downtown SLC off W Temple and Broadway courtesy of @craftlakecity
Drove to see my billboards in the same car I used to live in. The bad days feel so distant and it’s hard to recognize life today. But I’ll never forget where He rescued me from. All glory to God.
The best part is my testimony is printed on each one. ✝️❤️🔥
Huge thanks to @therealangela for making this happen🙏🙏🙏
A new Celebration of the Hand exhibition has arrived in downtown Salt Lake City! 🌵🐴
“The Soul of the West” features 14 powerful photographs by “The Cowboy Photographer” @sethmichaelstern capturing the culture, resilience and spirit of cowboys across the American West.
View the free outdoor exhibition anytime throughout May along Broadway between 200 East and 200 West.
Want to dive deeper into the work? Join us for a free virtual Lunch & Learn with the artist on May 15 at 1 p.m. Link in bio for details.
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26
Baptism is a public declaration of faith. It is a symbolic moment to declare a choice one makes to follow Christ. It is also a moment the church gets to celebrate the adoption of someone into the family of God. And thus, they also agree they as the church will care for this person as their own now and forever.
10 months of following Christ, I never felt compelled to get baptized. Because I know that I am saved by grace alone received thru faith. I received salvation and was forgiven the day I said yes to Jesus in July 2025. Baptism is not required for salvation.
That being said, God says “whoever loves me keeps my commands.” And even though in those early days some things challenged my preferences, preconceived notions, and understandings, I knew I loved God, even if that love might at first have been faint.
To know someone is to love them. And it was thru the process of coming to know more of His character as described in the Bible that my love increased. And thus, this longing in my heart to do what He has asked, not because He requires me to do it, but out of a deep appreciation for Him, that I decided to participate in a water baptism. Obedience.
And I’ll testify, God’s word is good. When He promises to give us a new heart, He keeps His promise. I can hardly recognize the man I see in the mirror today. It is not by my own strength that I saw a transformation. It’s a testament to His redeeming and transformative power.
Thanks for spending time reading this. This is easily one of the most joyful days of my life. And it’s an honor to share it with the world.
