Publisher’s Description:

It still exists: the small family farm with its own traditions, but it is threatened with extinction. In rural communities and at county fairs across the USA, one can still find it. Dan Nelken, in his portraiture, has recorded the essence of these time-honored ways of living and working. In its short week, the county fair celebrates the hard work of the preceding seasons as the year's stresses evaporate in the jubilant atmosphere of this annual event. Since 2000, Dan Nelken photographed county fairs throughout New York State, drawn by their simplicity, their moments of tranquility amidst the festivity, and their link to the past. Searching to convey the intimacy, rhythm and flow of the essence of a cultural phenomenon that is slowly disappearing.