Stetson 160th Anniversary Book Project

My relationship with Stetson began about ten years ago. The roots of my attraction to the brand go back to my teenage years. Through the country music my father loved, I was introduced to American culture,.

In New York, I became friends with the staff of JJ Hat Center, a long-established hat shop and one of Stetson’s retailers. That connection led to my first visit to the Stetson showroom. I photographed the hats on display using black-and-white film and developed the images in my own darkroom.

Those photographs became the catalyst for my being entrusted with shooting Stetson’s catalog. As our relationship deepened, the work expanded to advertising campaigns and eventually to a book project documenting the brand’s history. In the studio, I photographed valuable archival collections, and I also traveled to the factory in Texas to document the production process on site.

With photo equipment loaded into a large SUV, listening to country music on the radio, I drove along the endless Texas highways, of course, wearing my Stetson hat. It was an unforgettable time when the American culture I had imagined as a boy and the work I do today came together.