Buffalo Ballad: On the Trail of an American Icon

Thunder rolled across the prairie—and then there was silence. More than 30 million American bison once roamed the plains of the Midwest, a presence both physically and spiritually powerful beyond measure. With the arrival of European settlers, massive slaughter began. The story of the bison is a parable about globalization and the interplay of technological progress, capitalism, and a lack of understanding of ecological contexts. The prairie vanished with the bison.

Now the bison returns—and this is not nostalgia. The bison is a real, existing socio-cultural phenomenon, a current political issue in the dispute between cattle breeders and the bison lobby. The photographers travelled through the heart of bison country, from North and South Dakota, Wyoming, and Colorado, to Montana, capturing the essence of this iconic creature.

The magical black-and-white photographs translate vision into reality, creating an homage to the American soul with captivating images that are like the bison itself: unique, powerful, and magical.