Eccentric Portraits of Idahoans Who Practice 18th and 19th-Century Vocations

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Photographer James Talbot hails from a tiny village in Ohio, which may be where his observations of his neighbors’ eccentricities first started to shape his art.

During a 16-year stint as an art professor at Boise State University, Talbot focused his camera on the Idahoans around him who seemed to be living in a bygone era. Talbot’s intimate portraits of quirky Idaho characters deeply connected to the Western lifestyle are knifemakers, gunsmiths, and former bull riders and loggers. The artist captures them in their homes and shops where the tools of their trade surround them. “The subjects in these portraits have sacrificed to sustain a way of life that is reminiscent of yesteryear and to practice their vocations within these confines,” Talbot writes on his Behance page.

Read the tales of Bill the retired rodeo king (“There was no atheists when that gate opened.”) and gas station attendants with a “Beer Drinkers Make Better Lovers” poster hanging on the wall in our gallery.

Photo credit: James Talbot

Photo credit: James Talbot

Photo credit: James Talbot

Photo credit: James Talbot

Photo credit: James Talbot

Photo credit: James Talbot

Photo credit: James Talbot

Photo credit: James Talbot

Photo credit: James Talbot