American County Fairs - Everyday Street Photography Opportunities
- Kim Keller
- Nov 23, 2025
- 3 min read
American County Fairs - Street Photography by Kim Keller
Photographers travel from around the globe to visit holiday markets in Europe and experience Carnival in cities like Venice and Rio-de-Janeiro. Although they are much less grand, American state and county fairs bring people of all backgrounds together in a celebratory atmosphere and reward the street photographer. These events mix traditional harvest festival elements – awards for the largest squash and finest chicken – with gaudy lights, games of chance, mass produced prizes, and a surprising mix of fried foods. Most fairs take place in July-September, but you can find them in other seasons if you look. For example, the Florida State Fair is held in January.
I love these events for the variety of photographic opportunities they present. I admit that I favor the fairgrounds and rides, but that’s largely because the farm animals, produce, and home crafts events take place indoors under low light. All of these photos were taken during prime fair months of August and September, with the exception of this particular one below, which was shot in Florida in January.
On sunny afternoons, I seek out contrast between bright, celebratory colors and evening shadows. With a little imagination, the long shadows seem to represent fall chill encroaching on long summer days.
Possibly because of the charged, holiday atmosphere, people show their emotions more readily. You can capture facial expressions and gestures that convey excitement, concentration, discomfort or disagreement.
Fairground workers are also interesting subjects. They often show the burden of their long days and rigorous jobs in the faces and gestures.
Fairs also provide excellent opportunities for tableaus, whether it is unusual people moving through interesting spaces, families interacting with life-size (or nearly life-size) prizes, or surprising alignments between foreground and background.
There are also nearly endless opportunities to slow down your shutter speed and capture the excitement of fast-moving rides.
With the daylight hours becoming fewer and fewer here, I've taken on a new challenge: using flash. A workshop at the Rome Photo Lab festival with Bert-De-Busschere reminded me how useful it can be. I started by using flash at a few neighborhood festivals, which was a bit hit or miss. I've continued to use it at events like the New York City Village Halloween Parade. Like so many things, practice helps. As I review my results and work some holiday evening events, I might write about my experiences getting comfortable with flash here!
-Kim Keller American County Fairs - Street Photography by Kim Keller
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Great work!
Like your work Kim👍