Bio
Louise S. O’Connor is a rancher, photographer and author. She has spent the last 40 years interviewing, photographing and writing about the people of the ranching culture of her native Texas Coastal Bend. She has created a vast and rich archive of stories as told by hundreds of men and women, representing a wide variety of cultural and ethnic origins. Louise’s background as a member of a seventh-generation Texas ranching family instilled a deep understanding of the region’s peoples and history in which ranching dates back to the early 1720’s.
O’Connor began photographing and roaming ranches as a child. She studied photography under Ansel Adams, Brett Weston and Al Weber at Friends of Photography in Carmel, California. Her work has been seen at esteemed locations across the country including the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City and The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
Her books and projects capture the vibrant storytelling of the people of a unique ranching culture. She presents their lives and dreams; especially the way they reflect upon their profound understanding of nature and the land they lived and worked on, and the animals they lived among.
O’Connor’s published works, such as “Cryin’ For Daylight,” “Tales From the San’tone River Bottom,” “Wild Rose,” “Milam’s Revelation Cookbook,” and “The History of Marfa and Presidio County,” co-written with Dr. Cecilia Thompson, reflect her deep respect and admiration for the history and the people that were engaged in all aspects of a working ranch before modernization and radical change began advancing after World War II.
She has been awarded an Honorary Master of Art degree from Bath University in England for her work in the preservation of Texas History. O’Connor’s works have been published by Texas A&M University Press, and her photographic exhibition of “Cryin’ For Daylight” is a permanent part of the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University, along with over 800 hours of taped interviews.
