Thunder in the Dust

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The Western movie is a seventy-five-year-long myth, as old as Hollywood itself and to all the world the most spectacular achievement of the American motion-picture industry.Photographer John Hamilton has been a part of the making of t his myth. For the past thirty years--beginning with the classic, The Searchers--Hamilton has worked on the sets of Westerns: Cheyenne Autumn, Hombre, The Sons of Katie Elder, Stagecoach, Silverado, to name but a few. He has captured extraordinary images that speak directly of this myth, from the staggering sunsets, the vast landscapes, and the lone horse in silhouete, to the stagecoach pursued across the plains.Yet this is the twentieth century, where wagon trains cross highways, helicopters stir up dust, and cowboys wear mirrored sunglasses. Yes, the cowboy rides across the dusty plain, but this cowboy is Gregory Peck. As often as Hamilton lulls us into the beauty of this myth, surprising pictures pull us back into the present.In his introduction, John Calvin Batchelor explores the great story behind this truly American tale--what it is that excites us, that grabs our attention, that seems always familiar--and provides the backdrop for Hamilton's photographs.(from the inside of the dust-jacket sleeve)