Page 45 - Flathead Beacon // 6.25.14

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ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
JUNE 25, 2014 | 45
Preserving Montana,
One Snapshot at a Time
Kalispell man publishes new photography book exploring the state’s disappearing downtowns
“I don’t come at it from an artis- tic view point but more of an historical one,” he said. “I’m a history nut and I ask everyone to look at this book as more of a collection of snapshots.”
But one look inside the hardbound covers will show that Jacobson is a tal- ented photographer, a craft he picked up as a kid using his grandmother’s old Ko- dak box camera in the 1950s and 1960s.
Jacobson grew up in Wisconsin and studied forestry in the 1960s. At about the same time he landed his first season- al work inside national parks across the west, including Glacier. In total, Jacob- son worked in seven national parks and he attributes his love of photography to his time in the parks. Later, he built log homes in the 1980s and 1990s, but he never stopped taking pictures.
In the mid-2000s, Jacobson retired and began to focus on his photography. While walking in downtown Kalispell, he passed an old barbershop and stepped inside. The shop had the old barbershop pole and the old chair, and Jacobson said it was like stepping back in time. He sud-
denly realized he wanted to preserve the classic shops on film before they were gone forever. Unfortunately, many in Montana had already been modernized so he headed south, to the U.S.-Mexi- can border and began frantically pho- tographing shops that “looked like they were right out of the 1930s and 1940s.”
Jacobson made seven or eight trips to the border in six years to complete the project and said by the time the book fi- nally was published in 2007 some of the shops and barbers were gone.
As “Barberia” went to print, Ja- cobson turned his attention to his next project, “Main Street.” In an effort to cover the most ground possible, he split the state into sections and would take weeks-long road trips photographing every small town he encountered. He said some of the most drastic changes he’s seen were in the eastern part of the state, especially with the oil boom. How- ever, even some towns in Northwest Montana have undergone big changes. One photo in the book shows downtown Whitefish before Casey’s was knocked
down and rebuilt.
Jacobson shoots exclusively with
film because the technology matches the historical subjects he is photographing. He also said he likes how it’s a more “me- chanical” process.
He said the best part of the project was getting to meet people along the way. “I didn’t think I could love Montana more than I already do but on every trip I took I fell in love with it more,” he said. For his next project, Jacobson wants to document Petroleum County, home to just 494 people and one of the least populated places in Montana and the
United States.
“I’ll work at it for the next few years
and document the people and place the best I can,” he said. “I’ll do my best to get it all on film.”
For more information about Jacob- son and his photography, visit www. montanaphotoart.com. “Main Street” can be purchased online or at The Book- shelf in Kalispell for $125.
[email protected]
Ry JUSTIN FRANZ of the Beacon
oy Jacobson is in a race
against time with just a camera in hand. The 69-year-old Kalispell pho- tographer has released his
second book, “Main Street: A Snap Shot of Downtown Montana,” which explores the state’s changing towns and land- scapes.
For the past eight years, Jacobson, a retired contractor and builder, has traveled Montana to document its dis- appearing and changing small towns. The 186-page book is his second effort following the publication of “Barberia: Barbershops of the Borderlands.” Jacob- son says he is more of a historian than a photographer.
B
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: On a cold winter day, Roy Jacobson photographed downtown Polebridge. The image is featured in his new book about Montana’s downtowns; Downtown Bannack is seen in a photo by Jacobson that is featured in his new book “Main Street: A Snap Shot of Downtown Montana”; The lonely grain elevator at Virgille is seen in a photo from Jacobson’s new book. COURTESY PHOTOS