Women’s contributions to ranching have been historically overlooked, but the latest rendition of the University of Wyoming’s Larsh Bristol Photojournalism Fellowship challenges these assumptions.
Shelby Sinclair, a UW student from Fort Collins, Colo., is the recipient of the 2025 Bristol fellowship. She will present her work, titled “Unseen Hands,” at 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13, in Room 506 of Coe Library. Her photos will be displayed on the third floor of Coe Library through the end of February.
At the heart of Sinclair’s project is the story of Faith Hamlin and the transformation of the Little Jennie Ranch in Bondurant.
As an agricultural communications major, Sinclair says her work is driven by a desire to connect people to the origins of their food.
“I’ve always wanted to bridge the gap between community, products, and consumers,” she says. “That’s a big disconnect—a lot of people don’t understand where their food comes from.”
Sinclair’s relationship with photojournalism began in the classes she took in the Department of Communication and Journalism.
“I was taking Dr. Shane Epping’s photography classes, and I fell in love with it,” she says. “I think it helped me develop a sense of really being in the moment. That’s what photojournalism is, if you do it right.”
Epping, who is the first-ever Bobby Model Photojournalism Professor, has instructed students in the art of photography, photojournalism, and visual communication since 2021.
“Documentary photography asks us to observe rather than direct, to wait for truth instead of constructing it. Shelby embraced that discipline fully,” he says. “She didn’t pose her subject or look for shortcuts. She drove to Bondurant, built a relationship with Faith Hamlin over time and returned again and again to document a life in progress. That kind of commitment—showing up, putting in the hours, earning trust—is exactly what the Larsh Bristol Photojournalism Fellowship was created to support and Shelby honors that legacy well.”
The Larsh Bristol fellowship presentation has been hosted by the Department of Communication and Journalism since 2008 and gives recipients the opportunity to pursue strong visual storytelling projects. It is named in honor of Larsh Bristol, a UW journalism alumnus who died in 2006.
Sinclair says the Bristol fellowship pushed her to grow as a professional.
“I don’t think I could have done that a year ago; I couldn’t have reached out to someone and been like, ‘Hey, can I spend all this time with you behind the scenes and take this whole story and all of these photos of you?,’” she says. “I don’t think I could have had the confidence to reach out and spend that much time with a new person, and this story gave me the opportunity to work on that.”
She says the experience she gained over the past summer left a lasting impression of what she is capable of as a photographer and as a woman in the field.
“What has stuck with me the most is the confidence I have now as a photographer,” Sinclair says. “I feel very honored to represent UW with this project and represent this Western culture and way of life.”
The deadline for the 2026 Larsh Bristol Photojournalism Fellowship student applications is Friday, March 27. For more information, email Cindy Price Schultz at Cprice@uwyo.edu.
This story was originally published on UW News.
