Andrea Kaus

I am a freelance sports photographer based in Southern California, specializing in horse and western-based events. I have photographed all of my life, starting out with film and also darkroom developing, and later merging these skills with my adult professional life. While living in northern Mexico in the late 1980s, I used photos as a way to connect with the ranching community and to understand the ranchers’ connection to their land and livestock. They also taught me that a photograph is not something that is taken but instead a fleeting moment in time that is captured much as one might catch a wild horse. As a result, the thrill of photography for me remains the thrill of a hunt for a unique yet universally recognizable moment.

I started Kaus Photos in 2006 (originally as Chaos Graphics) to assist local community events with their media promotion. Since then I have photographed for a wide range of events and organizations including rodeo, bull-riding, cowboy mounted shooting, extreme cowboy racing, gymkhana, hunter/jumper events, thoroughbred racing, horse expos and clinics, city promotional initiatives, boxing, and hot rod events. I have been a promotional photographer for several Southern California and Utah rodeo committees since 2006, and obtained my Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) photographer's credential in 2019.

A set of my rodeo-themed photographs were part of a 2014 exhibit celebrating U.S. and Mexican shared culture entitled, “Pageantry: Roping, Riding, and Escaramuza,” at the Museum of Art and History in Lancaster, CA. Over the last decade I have contributed photos to accompany articles in several publications, including ProRodeo Sports News, Humps N’ Horns Magazine, Untacked, Churchill Downs Magazine, The Competitive Equestrian, and the former Equestre Magazine.