Werner Segarra: Vaqueros de la Cruz del Diablo

Vaqueros de la Cruz del Diablo/Cowboys from the Cross of the Devil, is a captivating photographic exhibition by Werner Segarra. Cowboys from the Cross of the Devil features 57 images that transport viewers into the hidden world of the vaquero/cowboy from the rough terrain of the Sonoran region of northern Mexico.

Segarra’s collection of photographs, captured over thirty years, reveals the vaqueros on their own terms, as the artist comes to integrate into and identify with the community he documents. Through portraits of place, work, and community, Segarra brings the emblematic figure of the desert frontier to vivid life, showcasing their otherworldly high Sierra mountain home, their attire, and their way of life. 

In Cowboys from the Cross of the Devil, Segarra chronicles a culture influenced by modernity and globalization, where the horse has been replaced by an ATV, the sombrero for a baseball cap, the handmade tehua for sneakers, and the radio for a smartphone. The photographs are a one-of-a-kind repository, the last recordings of a timeworn way of life that will soon remain only in the fading memories of those who once lived it.

Credit: Overview from museum website