"Through my family I grew up in the rodeo world, and while this world is familiar to me, I never felt completely at home there. In the rodeo community, you pray, sing the National Anthem about our great country, talk about the Republicans in office and how we hope they’ll fix things, all before any cowboy touches the arena dirt. To this world, my sexuality is a taboo. Through the Gate, In the Arena reveals a different side of the rodeo, one that is little known; it was only until I began this project that I had found that gay rodeo existed. While I still am happy going to straight rodeos, the disappointment in those years is what drives me to create the work in this project. I always wondered if any of those cowboys/cowgirls were like me when they rode a bull or ran barrels.

The title Through the Gate, In the Arena comes from the idea of placing yourself through the chutes behind the scenes of the gay rodeo while also metaphorically calling to the difficulty of everyday life as a queer. The action of stepping through the gate is only the beginning; the arena has the possibility of fun, terror, and worry alongside being watched throughout your duration in it.

Using my experience both studying and working with queer art and documentary photography, I focus on the happenings of the gay rodeo scene while acknowledging the participants as individuals. Continuing this project within the next few years, I will begin to travel to people’s homes and document some of their lives when they’re not at the rodeos and see where and if that fits into this project."

Sizemore’s ongoing project Through the Gate, In the Arena, focuses on sharing his discovery of gay rodeo — a world he often found himself wondering about in his youth, as he grew up in Southern rodeo culture. After completing his undergraduate fine arts program at Delta State University in 2020, he spent two years producing commercial work and teaching classes, mostly in photography. It was not until 2022 that Sizemore decided to return to his alma mater to receive a master’s degree in Studio Arts. His work has been exhibited across the United States, including places such as Arizona (Sedona Arts Center), Washington (Larson Gallery), Oregon (Black Box Gallery), and Texas (Museum of the Big Bend); he has also received awards for several of his images from his ongoing project. While he does travel nationally for his work, he resides in the Mississippi Delta, close to his family.