Our site is currently undergoing some renovations — please be patient over the next few days as we update things.
KCK Southern Plains Photography is proud to offer some of the finest historically accurate reference photography available to the Western art community. The name KCK represents the three partners behind this unique collaboration: Ken Weidner, Curtis Carter, and Karen Voepel.
For nearly fifty years, Ken and Curtis have dedicated themselves to researching, creating, camping with, and using the authentic outfits, tools, weapons, and equipment featured in these images. Each scene is carefully constructed with extraordinary attention to historical detail before being photographed by Karen Voepel, whose high-resolution imagery captures remarkable clarity and texture. Many images can be enlarged to near life-size on a computer screen while still revealing intricate details, right down to individual beads and stitching.
Much of KCK’s work focuses on the Southern Cheyenne people of the 1860s and 1870s, while also expanding into Southern Arapaho, Lakota, Pawnee, and Delaware portrayals, with Kiowa and Comanche outfits currently in development. In addition to Native Plains imagery, the collection is growing to include historically accurate scenes featuring soldiers, buffalo hunters, scouts, and civilians from the same era. Karen also offers exceptional contemporary photography of horses, buffalo, wildlife, and ranch life.
These reference photographs have helped Western artists create historically accurate paintings rich in authenticity and subtle detail not readily available elsewhere. KCK reference images have contributed to numerous award-winning works shown at prestigious art exhibitions across the country.
As part of their commitment to artists, Ken and Curtis are available to answer questions regarding the historical items, clothing, and equipment used in each scene. This guidance is included as part of KCK’s customer service at no additional cost. Each listing includes pricing, descriptions, cropped enlargements for detail viewing, and in many cases, multiple photographic angles of the same scene.
When a photograph or image set is purchased, the buyer receives exclusive ownership rights. The image is then marked as SOLD and will never be offered for sale again. If alternate views of the same scene exist, the sold image may remain visible on the website so artists can see related compositions that are still available. This also allows collectors and artists the option to purchase every angle of a particular setup if they wish to fully protect their investment.
Purchased files are delivered by Curtis through WeTransfer in high-resolution TIFF format. Due to the large file sizes, download times may vary. Customers are encouraged to securely back up their files immediately after download, as KCK does not archive sold images once delivery is complete. Itemized invoices are sent separately by Meg Weidner for the purchaser’s records.
If you have any questions, the KCK team welcomes you to reach out directly. Thank you for your interest in KCK Southern Plains Photography and in preserving the rich visual history of the American West.