2009 Oregon Country Fair Photography by Amy Sakurai 1
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2009 Oregon Country Fair Photography by Amy Sakurai
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All photographs and text copyright Š 2009 by Amy Sakurai All rights reserved. Book design by Amy Sakurai Release 1.0, July 2009
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This book is for Jenni – My OCF 2009 traveling companion and very dear friend
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About this book This book is a sampler of my photographs from this year’s excursion to the Oregon Country Fair in Veneta, Oregon. 2009 was the fair’s 40th year – and my fourth at the event. The year I started exploring photography was 2007, and I took a DSLR to the fair that year. I wish I could say that my images are much improved from that beginning, but I cannot. I don’t know that it matters much. The time I invest helps me learn and get faster; it’s part of the 10,000 hour commitment to become an expert as reexamined in Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers.
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I say that these photos are a sampler because I took a lot of photos (in a three-and-a-half hour period) – and the photos that didn’t make this book would simply reinforce the fact that the fair is extravagantly rich in a variety of art, activity, and people. Photos hardly do the fair justice. It’s best to just go and immerse yourself in the experience. In my initial idea for this book, I’d organized the photos in chapters... Children, Music, Wings, etc. I discovered that grouping the images by theme destroyed the feeling of the fair. A visitor is drenched with these images from all themes simultaneously, and sorting them makes an artificial order out of the delicious chaos. I quickly abandoned the groupings – but retained the idea of commentary. The text pages that appear in the book are not chapters – merely interludes. Amy Sakurai Beaverton, Oregon lovelyangel@macconnect.com
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Wings
I love the wings that people wear at the fair, and they are a favorite photo subject of mine. I’ve been known to chase a pair of wings through the crowd to try to catch a snapshot. This year bad timing made me miss a boy’s fabulous black bat wings, and a man’s white feather angel wings didn’t make the cut. The guys are definitely underrepresented in this book, but that’s not intentional. Someday I’ll get a pair of my own wings – as long as they don’t hinder my movement as a photographer.
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Music
The fair is awash in talented performers of all types, but it is the musicians who infuse the gathering with energy. The music ignites the dancers and draws crowds. Everywhere you go in the fair, wonderful music is in the air. I brought a lot of dollar bills with me as I leave some for every street performer I photograph. Musicians cost me nearly as much as my ticket to the fair itself.
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Faith & Sionna
Faith and Sionna are two friends who were fundraising for a school trip. But I was captivated by their talent, energy, beauty, and charm. The trip to Veneta was worth it just for the short time I took pictures of this duo. One part of my chat with them went like this: Amy: Are you two sisters? Faith: No. Sionna: No. Amy: You are not related at all? Faith: No. Sionna: No. *impish grin* I’m her evil twin. Amy: Cool! Awesome! Everyone should have an evil twin!
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Children
Children are another favorite subject of mine at the fair. They innocently and unabashedly radiate joy, fascination, love, amusement, frustration, and exhaustion. It’s hard to capture just the right moment, though. That’s one reason I need to get faster and be more prepared.
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Crafts
A reason I’ve decided I need to spend more than one day at the fair each year is that I cannot do photography and also browse the booths. So I miss out on most of the amazing handmade goods. A second day at the fair would allow me to set aside my camera and visit all the booths to talk to artists and examine their wares. (Nah. You know I couldn’t put away my camera completely. But I would make photography a secondary activity.)
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The End Amy Sakurai http://lovelyangel.livejournal.com
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A book by Amy Sakurai / Kokoro Designworks 64