CARNIES! A Photo Essay (of sorts) (Please click here, I beg of you. And comment!)

"The freaks'll stay together, they're a tight old crew
You'll look at them, and they look at you
I love the ballyhoo girl but she don't care
It's hard to find love anywhere." - Mark Knopfler, Devil Baby

Yes, Gentle Viewer, they look, and what they see ain't pretty...

Carnies. A Photo Essay, of sorts....

Plug.

I had just gotten my camera and popped over to the fairgrounds which I thought would be a 'photo-rich environment' I was just taking photos of the equipment and learning about depth of field and no one was around so I had the run of the place. It was sort of fun seeing how the rides went together and collecting different images...(cont)

YOYO Switches

Lights

Light Bulb

Bumper Car Lights

Shoot Here

YoYo

No Pregnant Woman. (Sign found on the floor of the Bumper Cars)

Carnies.

Then the carnies showed up. It was my first time taking photos of people I didn't know and I wasn't sure how to go about it. I couldn't really yell up to this guy and ask permission to get this shot...

A Carousel Floor Panel

So the workers would always scurry off when I came over and snapped pictures but they didn't say much.

Greg, one of the South Africans later told me that they thought I was with the fair or OSHA and they rarely wore their hard hats so they'd run and get them when I came around...

Laying the Carousel Floor

Joe

Eric

That's a whole lotta sky up there.

Artie and his Charlie Chaplin Wrench

Artie having a smoke break

Gondola Wheel Worker

Food Concession Worker

Assembling the Arctic Blast

Under the Raging Rapids

The Bunkhouse

Sandy and Ann.

Cleaning the Gondola Wheel.

A call went out and everyone headed for one section of the Midway. I thought there had been a death or something, but it was the opening of the Raging Rapids. The fair workers rode it over and over, testing to make sure it was safe for you, Gentle Viewer. They loved every minute of it.