About The Artwork
Buffalo Ghost is a visceral and poetic self-portrait by Benjamin West, captured in the sacred landscape of Bear Butte, South Dakota. In this limited edition photographic print, West masks his identity beneath a weathered buffalo skull, transforming himself into a spectral being — a living echo of the Plains.
More than a portrait, this image is an invocation. The stark tones and windswept terrain conjure ancestral presence, mourning, and resilience. Shot with reverence on hallowed ground, Buffalo Ghost bridges the space between man and myth, memory and spirit.
West’s work offers a deeply personal meditation on Indigenous identity, land, and embodiment where the ghost of the buffalo, a symbol of survival and loss, becomes a mask, a shield, and a mirror.
