PhotoAdvocacy

PhotoAdvocacy The Shutter Closes, Advocacy Begins. Independent Conservation Photographer | Animal Photojournalist | World Photography Awards Winner

Self-taught Scottish photographer, living in Denver, Colorado, Scott prowls between dusk and dawn, pursuing lingering low light and a dramatic edge. Scott recently moved to Colorado from the UK, where he was a multi-year finalist in the UK and Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year Competitions and his work has featured regularly in publications including The Sunday Times, Advanced Photograph

er, Digital Photo and Photography Monthly. Scott’s images tell tales of epic shoots, crazy o’clock journeys, blisters and burst waders, the odd-broken finger and frequently cracked filters… All in the name of a moment of light which will speak to those who also marvel at the beauty of our landscape. With an extensive back-catalogue of European photographic icons, Scott is thrilled by recent opportunities to explore the immensity of Colorado’s stunning outdoors and he hopes to bring a unique perspective to the viewer through his new work.

09/02/2026

Vintage Violet
Limited Edition 44” print honoring a very specific horse.

Only three (of five) remaining.
Contact Skydog directly for further info.

Log on to skydogphotography.com to view the Vintage Collection celebrating 10 years of Skydog

Many thanks to the 23 members of the Colorado State Legislature, led by House Majority Leader Monica Duran, who have wri...
09/01/2026

Many thanks to the 23 members of the Colorado State Legislature, led by House Majority Leader Monica Duran, who have written to the BLM concerned by the Colorado Roundups and requesting commitment to pursue solutions and prevent the sale of wild horses for slaughter.

The executive director of the Colorado Wool Growers Association — a membership-based organization of sheep producers and...
09/01/2026

The executive director of the Colorado Wool Growers Association — a membership-based organization of sheep producers and lamb feeders in Colorado — told the Craig Press the gathers are necessary to prevent overgrazed lands amid arid Western landscapes, a condition that can require “decades to recover.”

She said such conditions are especially prevalent in Sand Wash Basin, where the BLM has scheduled a helicopter drive-trap gather for September.

In Northwest Colorado, specifically, she said she’s had members with sheep permits who have been “forced to take non-use on their grazing allotment, literally for decades, due to overgrazing by wild horses.” [The pond images are from 2025 and 2026]

“Many times when sheep ranchers are hauling water for their sheep, the wild horses will come in and drink the water before the sheep even have a chance to get there. Horses will paw and destroy water tanks in ponds that are meant for domestic livestock…”

She called the “misinformation” around helicopter gathers “distressing,” noting what she referred to as sensationalized imagery of the moments just before the horses are driven into the pen.

Pond images from 2025 and 2026. The end frame is also a herd of sheep in Sand Wash Basin in 2022.

08/31/2026

"To see the world from another species' perspective..." - We Animals.

Piceance Basin,
Colorado
August 2026

08/30/2026

Photographs can document a moment.

But sometimes they become part of something larger.

I’m grateful to We Animals for including PhotoAdvocacy images from The Colorado Roundups in the We Animals Stock Library.

We Animals makes powerful animal photojournalism available to journalists, researchers, academics, advocates and others working to understand - and change - the ways humans interact with animals.

Not simply making photographs of animals, but creating visual evidence that can travel beyond the moment and the place in which it was made.

A photograph made in Colorado can become part of a news story, a research project, an advocacy campaign, a classroom, or a conversation happening thousands of miles away.

That is when photography becomes more than documentation. It becomes advocacy.

And perhaps that is one of the most important things a photograph can do - make us see.

Refusing to look away is an act of resistance.

Thank you to We Animals for giving these photographs another life - and the opportunity to be seen, shared and used in the service of animals.

"What Happens When A Displaced Wild Horse Is Finally Free But Doesn't Know It Yet?"And what does it take for that animal...
08/28/2026

"What Happens When A Displaced Wild Horse Is Finally Free But Doesn't Know It Yet?"

And what does it take for that animal to believe it is finally safe?

Those are the questions that emerged from my conversation with Richard Bernabe on the latest episode of his Beyond the Lens podcast — a wide-ranging discussion that goes beyond photography into trauma, recovery, advocacy, and the responsibilities of witnessing another species' story.

At the heart of that discussion is Adonis, a horse rescued by Skydog from an abusive situation. The photographs don't simply document his rescue. They follow what comes afterward: the slow transition from fear and hypervigilance toward trust and recovery, when they finally feel home free.

Because physical safety does not necessarily produce psychological freedom.

That led to a fascinating discussion about roundups, Wild Unfree, and the psychology of captivity - including what we know from the recorded experiences of prisoners of war about the psychological consequences of prolonged confinement.

Removing physical confinement does not necessarily mean the mind understands that it is free.

We talked about my own evolution from artist to advocate and steward of the story - and the idea that the photograph can be the opening move, rather than the end of the advocacy contribution.

And we looked at the wider ecosystem surrounding America's wild horses, from on-range stewardship to the enormous capacity challenges facing a sanctuary network trying to provide displaced animals with a safe place to begin the process of recovery.

Ultimately, this episode isn't about how to photograph a wild horse. It's about what happens when we remove an animal’s freedom - and what it takes to help them feel safe enough to believe they have it back.

Beyond the Lens Episode 124 with PhotoAdvocacy is out now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

08/27/2026

Grateful to We Animals for featuring coverage of the Piceance Basin roundup. We Animals is the world’s largest animal photojournalism agency and deeply committed to exposing animal protection issues globally.

More Manpower Than HorsepowerTwo horses.That's all that came in yesterday at West Douglas.And it took a lot of manpower ...
08/27/2026

More Manpower Than Horsepower

Two horses.

That's all that came in yesterday at West Douglas.

And it took a lot of manpower to do it.

The Piceance Basin roundup contract is worth $679,000 for a 31-day operation - an average of roughly $21,900 a day.

After four days at West Douglas, 36 horses have been removed.

At the contract's average daily rate, that's roughly $88,000 over those four days - and that doesn't include the government's associated personnel and supervision, communications, veterinary services, transportation, or the substantial costs that begin once these horses leave the range: holding, feeding, care and whatever ultimately happens to them.

This is what ‘wild horse management’ looks like on the ground.

How long should we continue spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on removal operations this resource-intensive while under-resourcing more cost-efficient, preventive solutions?

Perhaps it's time to stop asking how many horses we can remove and start asking whether this is a responsible or sustainable way to manage them at all.

Time to Stop.

Note. This post is intended to highlight the cost inefficiencies of roundups and extended holding. It is not intended to target individuals. Human faces are blurred, and comments wishing harm to individuals will continue to be deleted. The criticism here is of a system and its economics, not the people carrying out the operation.

Images are from West Douglas Colorado across a number of days this week.

Between a Rock and a Hard PlaceYesterday, a wild stallion found himself between a rock and a hard place. Literally.With ...
08/26/2026

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Yesterday, a wild stallion found himself between a rock and a hard place.

Literally.

With nowhere left to go, he climbed into the rocks, searching for somewhere the helicopter could not follow.

But the machine came closer.

Until the rocks could no longer protect him.

He burst out from his hiding place and ran along the ledge, with the helicopter behind him.

It’s a scene that has become painfully familiar in wild horse country - a wild one seeking sanctuary in the landscape he has called home, while machines relentlessly remove his options.

Of course, wild horses have been living between a rock and a hard place for more than half a century. The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 placed these animals under federal protection and declared them “living symbols” of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West.

Yet their very existence is still treated as something they must continually justify.

They are labeled feral — as though a word can make them less sentient, less worthy of consideration.

They are described as an invasive species — as though that settles the question of whether they deserve to exist.

Their numbers are counted. Their value is debated. Their fate is negotiated; rather dictated. And every few years, another argument is made for why there are too many of them.

Beneath the numbers, designations and competing interests is something remarkably simple.

They are living beings.

They have families. They form bonds. They know their landscapes. They experience fear. They seek safety.

They have no real voice in the endless debate over whether their existence is convenient enough to be allowed.

Yesterday, this stallion was between a rock and a hard place. America’s wild horses have been there for generations.

The question isn't whether a wild horse has earned the right to exist. The question is why, after 55 years, or 550 years, or 5000 years, we are still asking.

The stallion was in a band of five. Three were run in by helicopter and two were roped and brought in by trailer.

One more horse was captured earlier that morning, making a total of six rounded up on the day.

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