Gathers photos of couples, gang members, children, friends, and carnival people at California county fairs

Portraits made a in a portable studio that was hauled from county fair to county fair in California and Arizona between 1976 and 1980.

It still exists, the small traditional family farm. But it faces extinction. In rural communities and country fairs across the US, Dan Nelken has recorded the essence of these time-honoured ways of living and working in a series of personal portraits. Drawn by their simplicity and moments of tranquility amidst the festivities, the images offer a link to a rural past. The rhythm and cultural flow of this slowly disappearing tradition is documented in intimate detail.

82 contemporary B&W photographs by acclaimed documentary photographer Molly Ahearn, plus maps and antique historical photographs, bring to life this delightful history of the Dutchess County (New York) Fair, an annual highlight of the Hudson River Valley's summer season since 1842, with almost half a million people going through the turnstiles each year, making it the second-largest agricultural event in New York State.

"It's a blustery day, and I'm thumbing through Susan Miller's county fair photos, and suddenly-it's summer. The sun is baking my shoulders, and I'm eating my annual corn dog. I can smell French fries and hay, and I can hear kids squealing with delight as they're flung around on the Tilt-a-Whirl. Flipping through these pages, the best days of the season come back to me." -from the foreword by Shannon Olson