No one’s a cowboy anymore. Kids don’t re-enact gunfights at the OK Corral with cap guns and apart from a brief resurgence with Brokeback Mountain, you could be forgiven for thinking it had all gone forever. Well, like Clint himself, consider yourself unforgiven. There remains, deep in the heart of Texas, a generations-old tradition of cowboys, cow punchers, horse whisperers. These are professions whose fundamental disciplines remain as they were centuries ago, so unsurprisingly their practitioners are similarly unchanged from the iconic representations we grew up with.

London-based photographer Jane Hilton has had a longstanding love affair with rural America, culminating in this dramatic collection of 21 st Century cowboy portraits. Away from the hackneyed lassos and spurs-in-the-sunset scenarios of traditional depictions, Hilton introduces something of a gender challenge in capturing her subjects in their most intimate surroundings – their homes and bedrooms. Here the harshness of their daily reality is juxtaposed against elegant soft furnishings and tender mementos of their own professional and cultural heritage. It’s a stunning collection in terms of evocative photographic portraiture, as well as a reassuring confirmation that despite the relentless march of progress, some things never change.

JANE HILTON: DEAD EAGLE TRAIL
Crane Kalman, Kensington Gardens until Sun 29th
WORDS BY NICK COQUET