I know they’re in there somewhere

In a previous post, I had some photos I took at the local fairgrounds the day before opening, when things were being setup. I mentioned that I like to shoot the vintage (just old?) rides and games for the color. Well they are colorful, but I also think there is some deeper abstract photos to be found also. It wasn’t until I visited the site again, the day after the fair had ended and they were in the process of tearing down, to realize I had been looking for the wrong thing.

It wasn’t the color I should have been chasing, it was the forms. When I thought of trying these shots in black and white, I quickly realized how abstract and almost surreal the rides become, with the possible exception of the carousel horses. The mechanisms and arms look like strange science fiction contraptions when broken down to shades of gray.

Kind of fits the era when most of them were manufactured anyway.