From prize-winning pigs to corn dog-eating contests, from beauty queens to marching bands, from gravity-defying midway rides to miracle machines for back pain, from butter sculptures to demolition derbies, state fairs are a mother lode of pure Americana.
Focus on American History Series
University of Texas
April 2006
On Sale: April 1, 2006
128 pages ISBN: 0292712871 EAN: 9780292712874 Hardcover Add to Wish List
State Fair is a visual distillation of Arthur
Grace's photographic odyssey through fairs in ten
states—California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kansas,
Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia. Time
and again, regardless of geographical location, Grace's
images deftly capture the strange mixture of the
traditional, the kitsch, and the off-the-wall that is unique
to these annual gatherings, which began as a celebration of
rural American life and have evolved into super-sized
extravaganzas. Whether the photographs show the beaming
pride of 4-H egg champions, the intensity of a tattooed arm
wrestler, or a forlorn alligator waiting to be "wrestled" in
a wading pool, the authenticity of Grace's imagery is
unmistakable. You can almost hear the shouts from the
midway, smell the animals in the barns, and taste the cherry
pie.
Sure to bring back vivid memories for anyone
who's ever attended a state fair, and bound to entice the
uninitiated, State Fair reminds us how much we
still crave to go out and have real experiences beyond the
fantasies we see on our computer, TV, and movie screens. It
shows that far from being an anachronism in the twenty-first
century, state fairs are a vital, living tradition
throughout America.
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