Olmsted County Fair (click for more photos)
I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, home of the great Ohio State Fair. When I was young, I took art lessons from an artist down the street. It was fun, and one thing he always had us do was enter our artwork in the fair. So, I would go to the fair every year and visit it multiple times since we had to take our work there and pick it up. I also learned to enjoy aspects of the fair apart from the rides (which, by the way, I did enjoy) and the Grandstand.
An aside: For a time, the Ohio State Fair raised the entry fee, but made the Grandstand free. During that time, I saw some very cool acts: Hermin’s Hermits, The Association, Rare Earth. Just had to arrive early!
I dropped the lessons as I got older, but once I was driving age, the Fair would be a fun thing to do on a steamy summer evening. I learned all the back ways to the place and could almost always avoid much of the traffic. It would be easy to visit the fair two or three times during its run. I would always visit the fine arts building, see what the current crop of kids were doing as well as the professionals. I’d look up what my old art teacher had submitted that year. I learned from him that the artwork you are most invested in, spend the most time on, and feel the most attached to, isn’t always the artwork that catches the judges’ eyes. That painting you did on a whim in 20 minutes wins the First Place ribbon instead. Valuable lesson.
Columbus is in Franklin County. Having the state fair right there, less than five miles from home, I never visited the county fair until years after I left Ohio. But here in Rochester, we’re quite a ways from St. Paul and the state fair. The county fair is right in the middle of Rochester, and it’s a place to visit for some funnel cakes or carnival rides. It’s a place to take the camera for some people watching.
I set out yesterday afternoon, camera in hand, to find some people to shoot! It was IBM’s day at the fair, so there were plenty of IBMers with their families. There was a tent set up with picnic tables for relaxing and a few airbrush tattoo stations to paint kids’ faces. And, I saw a few adults taking part.
I headed over to the animal barns. Lots of activity there, with folks brushing and washing their prize creatures. Looked like some judging might be taking place, as well. It was fun to walk around looking for interesting shots and people just enjoying themselves. And a girl’s long hair pulled by gravity while she was being held upside down.
It was warm, and the sun was giving us mid-afternoon light (less than great), but shooting opportunities were all around.
Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but the acts I mentioned were, ahem, the original groups during their years of fame. The Association was maybe a couple years after “Cherish” and such, but they were brought in at the last minute. Don McLean was the scheduled act, but he was unable to be there.
Comment by Tony — August 9, 2010 @ 10:20 am