I first met Ellery Aufdengarten in the winter of 2010, when he politely but firmly explained the trespassing laws of the state of Texas after finding me making pictures on one of his pastures outside Marfa. After I got his email address and promised to send him some pictures, we went our separate ways. So began our relationship.

Before long I was a regular visitor to the ranch, sometimes making pictures but often just joining Ellery as he checked on his cattle. We would get together at the Lost Horse Saloon or back at my trailer for a Shiner and a talk. I got to know his family, and they became my Texas family.

Ten years later, I was travelling on a rural road in Saskatchewan during a heavy summer thunderstorm when I received a call from Ellery's elder son, Mitch. Ellery had died that morning while working cattle on a pasture not unlike the one where we first met. He died in the saddle.

The photographs I made on the ranch, with his help and blessing, would simply not have happened without Ellery. They represent my view of a time and a place.