Courtenay Nearburg’s Wild, Wild West

A School of Visual Arts assignment sent photographer Courtenay Nearburg in search of “an accessories story with an inventive twist,” so the native Texan (and current Manhattan resident, via New Mexico, Guatemala and California) returned to her roots.

Drawing inspiration from Richard Avedon’s portrait series “Into the American West,” her all-time favorite photo book, Courtenay teamed with models Drake Burnette and Efren Garza of DNA Models in New York City to create a chic Western portfolio – and a little “magic,” the photographer says.

The resulting cowgirl-and-Indian spread was “the perfect marriage of talent and theme,” Courtenay notes, giving all the credit to her talented models.

It was also a breath of fresh air for the fashion/lifestyle photographer, whose work has a decidedly urban bent. Courtenay’s portraiture and advertising work is big-city hip, so the “Austinite by choice” relished an assignment that allowed her to channel her passion for the Southwest.

It helped, she adds, that Drake, the female model, was also a native Texan.

“Drake killed with great attitude and style,” she says, while Efren, her male counterpart, was “a dream come true.” Falling in with these models was a great stroke of luck, Courtenay adds, “like all great things that happen serendipitously when practicing photography.”

Click here to see more shots from Courtenay’s SVA graduate-program exercise, and other examples of her fashion and advertising work.