I woke this morning after a quiet, peaceful night’s sleep in a comfy bed. Leah had already gotten up, and I guessed that she was out doing morning barn chores. Birds were singing outside our bedroom window, and, other than that, there was...silence.
All this was so very different than the weekend Leah and I just returned from in Oregon, where we attended the frenetic, crazy, teeming-with-humanity happening known as Oregon Country Fair. We spent three nights in a tent at Fair, camped in a field with hundreds, perhaps thousands of other Fair-goers. And though folks we met were friendly and kind, one does not go to an event like Oregon Country Fair looking for solitude or a wilderness-like camping experience, which is my norm when I sleep in a tent. Rather, one goes to Fair to be part of a community: To mingle, meet, and hang out with others.
It’s taken me several years to finally “get” Oregon Country Fair. This is the third year I have attended -- Fair has been held now for 43 years, and the photographer in me was initially drawn there by the knock-you-over visual appeal of the event -- but this year, finally, I think I learned to embrace Fair as more than just a cool place to go to take photographs.
Fair is held in a beautiful, wooded area, with numerous performance stages and food and craft booths nestled in the trees. There is live music and performance art going on all day and into the night, and there is a 60’s kind of vibe that, to me at least, feels sweet and genuine.
And, yes, Oregon Country Fair is certainly a visual happening. I shot so many pictures I like, it’s hard for me to edit my selects down to create a post that won’t clog the Internet.
