48th annual Western Heritage Awards honors portrait book on rural life

Paul Mobley took the summer off at his cabin in Michigan to escape the thing that wore him out during his years as a commercial photographer in New York: taking pictures. Then, he saw some farmers hanging around outside a coffee shop. "I just looked at their faces and thought, ‘I have to take their picture,’” he said. "It was a kind of rebirth of my photo career.” Four years and more than 100,000 miles crisscrossing America later, Mobley figures he has captured the essence of rural life in a photo book. "American Farmer, The Heart of Our Country,” a collection of more than 200 portraits of farmers and ranchers in their native habitat, along with 45 profiles by writer Katrina Fried, has been selected for a Wrangler Award by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. The Wrangler is "like winning an Oscar,” museum spokeswoman Shayla Simpson said. Mobley’s book was selected from among seven entries in the photo book category of the literary division, she said. It will be presented at the museum Saturday during the 48th annual Western Heritage Awards ceremony...The Oklahoman