Mayes County Fair
Dodge Hogan, 7, waits mounted on his horse before circling the ring for a display performance at the Mayes County Fair in Pryor, Okla., Sept. 8, 2011. Hogan has been riding since he was four and also competes in junior rodeo events. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
I don’t know why, but I have a thing for fairs. Coming from an urban background, something about rural life just really interests me as timeless and beautiful. There are several county fairs in northeastern Oklahoma overlapping this week. I decided to check out the Mayes County Fair in Pryor.
I was very selective in what I photographed; choosing to compose around pockets or shafts of light that were shining through doors and windows of the barns. Essentially, I would stake out a ray of light and wait. As a photographer, it feels great to do this when you can because on most assignments light is either boring and flat or you simply don’t have time to sit around and wait. In a relaxed, natural environment like a fair, however, sitting and waiting for that moment is much more manageable.
While wandering around, I met Nathan Ford and his sister Erika in one of the livestock barns with their grandfather John Littlefield, preparing calves for a 4-H display. Nathan was following in the footsteps of his older sister; it was his first year exhibiting, her third. Now I don’t know a thing about cattle or swine breeding and only recently learned the difference between dairy and beef cattle, but seeing the pride and honor these kids exuberated while showing off their animals was heart-warming and revealing of an almost-lost simpler life. But don’t tell that to anyone at the fair, it is alive and well.
Along with hundreds of other youngsters in 4-H and FFA, Nathan will be at the fair all weekend. Along with millions of other Americans, Sept. 11 will be special to Nathan. It is his 10th birthday.
Ten-year-old Brody Willyard, a 4-H member from Pryor, plays with Marie Nicholas, 2, in a pig pen at the Mayes County Fair in Pryor, Okla., Sept. 8, 2011. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
Siblings Erika and Nathan Ford lead Sooner Baby from a trailer, one of four calves the pair was preparing to show at the Mayes County Fair in Pryor, Okla., Sept. 8, 2011. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
Nathan Ford leads a calf to a display area at the Mayes County Fair in Pryor, Okla., Sept. 8, 2011. A Salina 4-H member, it was Ford's first year with his own calf. Ford will be celebrates his birthday at the fair this weekend; he turns 10 on Sept. 11. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
Mayes County Fair in Pryor, Okla., Sept. 8, 2011. JEFF LAUTENBERGER/Tulsa World
I see these photos and I think they seem made here in Brazil. The style of the boys is equal to the way like my pupils dress. All is as if was the same country. The rodeos from here are a copy of these rodeos and this way of life and this fashion are the exact image of the boys from Brazil countryside. These children are a beautiful image of happiness and health.
[...] county fairs…with good old-fashioned cowboys in Pryor, Oklahoma…  of lost Indian elections…as [...]