I finally got the scans back from the roll I’d taken to the WA State Fair on Labor Day. We’ve gone almost every year since moving here, but not last year.
As has become a minor tradition, I brought along yet another camera with me. It was fun to try and see something “new” in a place that’s been comfortingly the same ever since Christine could remember.
This is a roll of LomoChrome Classicolor. I really enjoy the greens and reds in this stock, but as seems to be pretty common with Lomography’s products, it sometimes struggles with dynamic range.
The best time to take photos here is when the sun starts to dip over the horizon and you get that amazing golden hour that the West is famous for, but we rarely have the patience to stay out that late. Maybe next year. I’d love to try some night photography one day too.
In all honesty, I didn’t immediately feel inspired once we arrived at the fair, but after walking through the art and photography pavilion where taking photos was strictly forbidden anyway, I came across this classic Coke scene and was immediately revived and reinvigorated. Yes, I am a simple man who finds joy in predictable places.
“Was it odd to be born near hillsides with radars
like baby ears of question marks
under the silent claw of the predator,
when mountains shook toward sabino canyons
& there was Jello salad at picnics?
Here from this century can you say
was it wild to be born?
Was there anything else like this, anything at all?”
(From ‘1951’ by Brenda Hillman)