Lone Ranger

Clayton Moore wore this black mask at the star of The Lone Ranger (ABC, 1949-57 but I’m sure you knew that,) a Western TV series about a Texas Ranger who disguises his identity to fight crime on the frontier.

What I love about this particular project is everything.

It’s not hyperbole to say photographing the Lone Ranger’s mask for The Smithsonian was one of the best days of my life. I talk about how legends, characters, superheroes and comic book characters shaped me, shaped my perspective. But something about this mask reminded me of that foundation so viscerally. I felt just as I would have felt if 10-year old me was behind that camera.

Hi-yo Silver, away!