The Waltzer, Fairground Ride
The Waltzer, Fairground Ride
I have always been fascinated by Fairgrounds and Fairground artwork and, let me say quite clearly, it is art. The life and energy conveyed by the fabulous array of lettering and graphics is quite simply stunning. These photographs were taken recently at Thurston’s Fun Fair at Saffron Walden held on the Common in the centre of town. I have done very little post processing because I didn’t need to, the images are great because of the extraordinary talents of the ‘sign-writers’ or digital designers… and not because of any tweaking I may have done. They remind me so much of the 1960’s hyper realist art movement and painters such as Ralph Goings and Richard Estes with their images of everyday life in America including hamburgers, cars, street signs, shop fronts and window displays. In a sense I have simply been recycling these techniques and given them a slight painterly quality…thus closing, or maybe continuing the circular relationship between photography and painting.