By Matt Hartsky, Photographer
Matt is the owner Hartsky Signature Photography in Laramie
Sometime last year, this torn and tattered cowboy hat appeared on an apparently random leaning fence post in the middle of nowhere Wyoming.
For some reason, I’ve thought about it quite a bit, but never stopped to photograph it. I’ve seen it in day light and lit only by my headlights in the darkness of night.
I’ve seen it covered in frost and snow. I’ve seen this old hat soaked from the rain and obscured by thick fog. The seasons have come and gone and still it remains.
It obviously gave its owner a long life of service and despite being hung out in the harsh open elements at 7,200 feet, it endures.
If this hat had eyes and voice, it could tell you of many people, passers by who have come and gone. It could tell you tales of its journey and many a beautiful sunrise and equally stunning sunsets.
It is rarely noticed and often forgotten, much akin to the people who prefer their independence and love to call this state home.
As the rising sun shines through a chewed out edge of the brim the spirit of this old hat calls out to my Wyoming native heart, “This is Wyoming.”
