Oleg Tolstoy casts his eye on the hope and adrenalin of rodeo riders as they pray and grip onto bulls at the 9 day North Texas Fair & Rodeo in Denton, which celebrated its 94th year.
Shot in Oleg’s confronting style, he captures the raw emotion of Brazilian and Texan riders as the sun casts golden light over them.
Rodeo is a timeless tradition where western clothing is compulsory for competitors’ long sleeve shirts, western hats, jeans and cowboy belt buckles. ‘It seemed like I had stepped onto the set of a Wrangler campaign, the junior riders seemed to be the most freshly dressed in their bright chaps, crisp shirts and fresh denims’.
‘As soon as I entered the pit I could feel the tension, the energy was something I had not experienced before. I had to get as close as I could, often hovering my camera just a foot away from the riders. At one point while I was shooting a rider on a bull the it buckled up and nearly knocked my camera out of my hand and into its stock.’
More increasingly, rodeo has become a glimmer of hope for the Brazilians, who flock to America to make it big. The stakes are high and they are willing to take that risk. The Wrangler NFR held in Las Vegas annually offers $1.3M + in prize money to competitors, shelling out $13.3M in 2021.
Oleg Tolstoy casts his eye on the hope and adrenalin of rodeo riders as they pray and grip onto bulls at the 9 day North Texas Fair & Rodeo in Denton, which celebrated its 94th year.
Shot in Oleg’s confronting style, he captures the raw emotion of Brazilian and Texan riders as the sun casts golden light over them.
Rodeo is a timeless tradition where western clothing is compulsory for competitors’ long sleeve shirts, western hats, jeans and cowboy belt buckles. ‘It seemed like I had stepped onto the set of a Wrangler campaign, the junior riders seemed to be the most freshly dressed in their bright chaps, crisp shirts and fresh denims’.
‘As soon as I entered the pit I could feel the tension, the energy was something I had not experienced before. I had to get as close as I could, often hovering my camera just a foot away from the riders. At one point while I was shooting a rider on a bull the it buckled up and nearly knocked my camera out of my hand and into its stock.’
More increasingly, rodeo has become a glimmer of hope for the Brazilians, who flock to America to make it big. The stakes are high and they are willing to take that risk. The Wrangler NFR held in Las Vegas annually offers $1.3M + in prize money to competitors, shelling out $13.3M in 2021.
