Houston Photographer Captures Texas Women and Their Guns

[howdy]

http://www.chron.com/houston/article/Ho ... to-7263438" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Dadtodabone]

I was happy to see the armed realtor photo.

[surferdaddy]

Not sure I get it really. I mean no disrespect, but the photos don't seem particularly well shot to me. Probably just me?

[jminn1]

pictures 5, 8, and 13 are a little disturbing. Fingers on the bang switch.

And the stated reason for the project (quoted from the article):

She began the project in 2011 after a friend was getting her hair done at a West Gray salon and a fellow patron’s handgun went off in her purse.

Something just not quite right with that.

[VMI77]

pictures 5, 8, and 13 are a little disturbing. Fingers on the bang switch.

And the stated reason for the project (quoted from the article):

She began the project in 2011 after a friend was getting her hair done at a West Gray salon and a fellow patron’s handgun went off in her purse.

Something just not quite right with that.

Don't read too much into that. Here's what she says on her website (http://www.shelleycalton.com/Concealed/ ... tatement/1):

Growing up in Houston was synonymous with an induction into Texas gun culture. My father kept a pistol in his nightstand for protection. He owned shotguns for hunting wild game and he taught my two sisters and me to shoot at an early age. I remember going out to the country to shoot tin can targets. This was a part of growing up in my household, it's something that I have in common with many of the women that I photographed for Concealed.

As a grown woman, guns have played a minimal role in my life. However, I have found myself drawn to them in my earlier projects—for my book Hard Knocks (Tex Offender's Pistols), and again in Nécessaire (Colt 44)—perhaps making Concealed a logical next project. I was immersed in gun culture, but hadn’t previously reflected on the significance of guns in the everyday lives of Texas women. As I began to photograph these women, I sought to more deeply understand their collective experiences as concealed carriers. So like the women in these portraits, I too was trained, tested, and fingerprinted, eventually becoming a licensed gun carrier.

Concealed depicts the private and previously unseen lives of women who arm themselves. They come from diverse backgrounds, each with their own individual story and personal motivations. Many purchase handguns for protection, others collect them like they might Wedgwood china or high-heeled shoes. Often these women are unassuming and unexpected, a young mother with her baby at the grocery store checkout counter, a grandmother walking her dog, or perhaps a woman in the parking space next to you at the shopping mall. My photographs showcase the diversity of this population. However, I found a commonality in their response to the question “are you prepared to pull the trigger to protect yourself or your loved ones?” The answer from the women in this collection of portraits is a resounding "yes.

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