On the afternoon of May 4, I shadowed the Westside Express’s publisher and photographer, Gene Lieb, at the Merced County Spring Fair.
For anyone unfamiliar with my name, I am an intern reporter here at the Westside Express. I’ve been writing for the paper since late January while finishing up my baccalaureate degree in English at Stanislaus State.
As someone who is not from the Los Banos or even the Merced County area, I was new to the Spring Fair. Though that is not to say I am unfamiliar with fairs. I have been to many California fairs in my life, as either an exhibitor or a rabbit showmanship judge, but this was my first experience of a fair through the lens of an intern reporter.
Immediately upon entering the fair, the familiar noises and smells of the fair greeted me, as did two stilt walkers. Lieb, always keeping an eye out for good subjects to photograph, got a few pictures of the horse and cow stilt walkers, and then we continued.
When you’re walking around the fair with Gene Lieb, you feel a bit like you’re walking around with a local celebrity. Throughout the fair, many people greeted him, some commenting on his return to the fair as he’d been there for some time that morning already.
Our first destination for the afternoon, mapped out from a schedule for the events occurring that day, was the exhibits building.
We were there to watch the sausage tasting at 2 p.m., but between arriving a little too early and delays in sausage preparation, we had some time to look at the exhibits.
Quilts, birdhouses, banners, toolboxes, drawings and all the typical crafts you might expect to find at a fair lined the walls and filled tables of the building. Having a quilter for a grandmother, and having sewn, embroidered, painted and otherwise crafted since I was a child, this part of a fair has always felt like home.
As I followed Lieb, I asked questions about what he photographed and how. For still exhibits, he looked for the right lighting, color contrast that drew the eye and repetition of themes. A noisy sea of children’s drawings narrowed into one. A line-up of identical wooden toolboxes was captured for the rippling pattern of their handles.
Soon after, we returned to watch the sausage tasting. Between Lieb’s comments and the energy of the steadily building crowd, I discovered the community’s passion for sausage. The judges, some new, some returning, deliberated over each sausage with great care. In attendance were the exhibitors, fair staff and even the year’s Miss May Day winner. Ultimately, Ron Alberti claimed best in show with his dry sausage, earning him $75 and bragging rights as sausage royalty.
From there, I followed Lieb through the exhibits, snapping shots of floral arrangements, paintings and photographs along the way, out into the crowds. As we wound our way toward the carnival, we stopped briefly here and there as Lieb captured candid shots of smiling fairgoers.
We were early, once more, when we reached the Grandstands to watch the rodeo. In the time we waited, I had the chance to talk with Lieb about the Los Banos area and learn about how he had gotten into journalism as a high school student. He had been told to photograph a game at his school, and discovered just how close to the action he could get as a photographer.
And close to the action we got, when the time for the rodeo to start finally came. Another lesson from Lieb: know what you’re photographing. When we entered the arena, we rounded the fencing to find the perfect spot to see the action, guided by Lieb’s experience with the event.
There, between bursts of music from the mariachi band, we both took pictures of the riders as they held on tight to their bucking bulls. A little after an irritated bull had bucked his rider and decided to lead the riders on a merry chase around the pen, we decided we’d seen enough of the rodeo and set off back into the fair.
Our final stop was a building with vendors. Here, as in many places on the grounds, Lieb stopped to speak with those he knew and others he did not. His work is not only in taking pictures, but in making connections and maintaining them.
As I concluded my time with Lieb, I reflected on what I’d learned. Preparation and foreknowledge were key, but so was spontaneity. Building connections opens doors, sometimes literally. And finally, when there’s a lot of hurry up and wait, the waiting can be a valuable time to discover something new.
