The County Fairs of California

Ventura County Fair

This summer, I started a new photographic series called "The County Fairs of California". I have attended 5 fairs so far this summer throughout California in the counties of Alameda, Kern, Los Angeles and Ventura. I attended the Antelope Valley Fair and Alfalfa Festival and was delighted to see the more rural and agricultural aspect of its fair. California's 23 county fairs are run by the Department of Food and Agriculture under the Division of Fairs & Expositions and been have traditionally been held to highlight each counties natural and agricultural resources.

4H Club Member at the Antelope Valley Fair & Alfalfa Festival

The 4-H Club and Future Farmers of America embody this concept but at the county fairs I visited, these clubs were under represented. There were horses and bulls, sheep and pigs but I couldn't find representatives of these clubs anywhere. I was finally glad to see them at the Antelope Valley Fair and Alfalfa Festival, where I ran into this amazing 4-H Club participate above. This fair had an amazing selection of livestock that was being juried and it felt like I had traveled back in time. I look forward to exploring this side of California's agricultural fairs as I travel to more rural counties in the future.

Kern County Fair

I started the series by focusing on the carnival workers in the prize booths. The backdrops are so whimsical and repetitive that the dichotomy with the carnival worker is jarring, even in black and white. With my trusty 1958 Yaschica-A medium format camera, I would go up to each employee I was drawn to and asked if I could take their portrait. Rarely did anyone refuse. Often times, interesting stories would come out of our conversations.

Ventura County Fair

A pattern began unfold with each consecutive visit. I noticed that every fair had similar attractions and structures that I found myself drawn to every time I went. I began to create portraits of carnival workers who distributed tokens at the various photo booths and those who had stand alone photo studios. Photo booth graphics have always been a favorite of mine and every worker enjoyed the paradox of another photographer taking their picture.

Los Angeles County Fair

The odd shaped structures at the various fairgrounds in the shape of a lemon or boy scout hat got my attention. These plastered structures are whimsical and remind me of the Fotomats I've discussed in previous blogs. Most fairgrounds are at least 50 years old and these structures are a living testament to previous days gone by. The Ventura County Fairgrounds was established in 1875, 139 years ago! Where Kern and Alameda started their fairs in 1916, with Los Angeles following in their footsteps in 1922.

Kern County Fair

The Circus, Freek Shows and Clowns were a rarity but I managed to capture a few of them and they were truly amazing. If you know my work, you know I'm drawn to these iconographic forms of entertainment. Tadpole the Clown, The Worlds of Wonders Sideshow and the Family Fun Circus were still delighting their audiences with their timeless entertainment.

Tadpole the Clown at the Kern County Fair

Capturing portraits of folks working the fairs of California has me really excited about this series. I look forward to the Santa Barbara, San Diego, Contra Costa, Marin and Calaveras County Fair & Jumping Frog Jublilee next year.

See you at the Fair!

Julie Pavlowski Green
October 4, 2014