Steven Edson
June 22 – September 10, 2019
Reception July 31, 2019 6:30 - 8 PM
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- Horizontal color photograph of a young boy sitting in the barn next to his cows while eating a bowl of french fries at the Woodstock Fair, Woodstock, CT
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- Horizontal color photograph of girls in pink costumes performing at the Fryeburg Fair, Fryeburg, Maine
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- Horizontal color photograph of a young girl in a statue of liberty costume riding her horse in a costume competition at the Vermont State Fair.
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- Horizontal color photograph of shooting water thru the clowns mouth to pop the balloon first to win a prizeat the Washington County Fair, Richmond, RI
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- Horizontal color photograph of Yoyo the amusement ride at night in motion with colorful lights at the Blandford Fair, MA
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- Horizontal color photograph of race car drivers and audience with hands over their hearts while they play America the Beautiful and raise the flag at the Marshfield Fair; Marshfield; Massachusetts
Statement
In my photographic series, The County Fair, these images offer a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people out for a day of fun and the employees who work the fairs for a paycheck. It is my intention to find a certain truth and reality about people in general. I am fascinated about how people look for distractions and what activities they engage in. People reveal themselves differently in a crowd distracted by food, noise and the various activities found at the many different county fairs that are held each Summer and Fall. As a photographer, I look for moments where I can create portraits or focus on an activity that speaks about the inherent relationships of people to each other and to their environments.
In the mid 1800’s, the primary purpose of state and county fairs was to promote the exchange of innovative agricultural technology and farming processes to farmers who were looking to improve their crops and livestock. In the middle of the 1900’s, as the United States moved towards an industrialized and modern country, the fairs expanded to include rides, food, games, horse racing, demo derby’s, musical concerts amongst other forms of entertainment. The small family farm still remains an important part of today’s fairs with colored ribbons and trophy’s going to the winners of various crops, jams, maple syrup and farm animals. The county fair attracts thousands of people per day who come for the fast rides, BBQ and shows while taking a break from their regular work schedules to spend time with their families, friends and neighbors. -SE
Bio
Steven Edson has been shooting still photographs for over 40 years. While continuously working on his own personal vision, he has also worked for many of those years as a commercial photographer where his images have appeared in newspapers, magazines, annual reports, advertising and various forms of electronic media. He is passionate about using photography to document people and their relationships to their environments with the cameras incredible ability to describe the world in nuanced detail while also having the capacity to impact people and change the way they see their worlds from a different perspective and point of view.
CV
EDUCATION
BFA / Massachusetts College of Art and Design
EXHIBITIONS
2019: Cambridge Art Association: 2019 National Prize Group Show: Road Paint
2019: Bridge Gallery: Solo Show: Fall 2019
2019: Griffin Museum for Photography: Solo Show: Summer 2019: The County Fair
2019: MOPLA: Month of Photography Los Angeles: 2- images in Analogue Portrait Project
2019: Group Show: 12th Annual Gala Awards Show, Barcelona, Spain: The County Fair
2019: Group Juried Show: Photowork 2019: Barrett Art Center, Juror James Ganz, Senior Curator of Photography of the J Paul Getty Museum, LA
2018: Group Juried Show: ‘The County Fair’: Bronx Documentary Center, Bronx, NY
2018: Group Juried Show: ‘Flower Power’: Secret Gardens, Nave Gallery, Somerville, MA
2018: Solo Show: ‘Road Paint’, Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY
2017- 2018: Arts Connect: Juried Group Show at Catamount Arts, St Johnsbury, VT.
2017: Solo Show ’Road Paint’: Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY. Opening:
2017 Solo Show: ‘Road Paint’ Boston Public Library, Jamaica Plain Branch, Ma
2017 Group Juried Show, SE Center for Photography, Greenville, SC
2017 Solo Show: ‘All Roads Lead Home’: Catamount Arts: Ranson Gallery, VT
2017 Arts Connect: ‘Road Paint’ 2nd Place, Juried Show, Catamount Arts, St Johnsbury, VT
2016 Art Now: ‘Road Paint’ New Directions in Contemporary Photography, Ann Arbor Art Center, MI
2016- 6 Bridges Gallery, Maynard, MA, Juried Group Exhibition: Winner: Gallery Award
2016 Del Rio Council for the Arts / F22 Juried Exhibition on Photography
2016 Danforth Art Annual, Danforth Museum of Art: Juried Group Exhibition
2016 5th Annual Juried Exhibition, Sohn Fine Art Gallery, Lenox, MA
2015: The Fence: 6- ‘Road Paint’ images chosen for Brooklyn, NY, Houston, TX and Atlanta GA 2015 Danforth Art Annual, Danforth Museum of Art: Juried Group Exhibition
2014 Danforth Art Annual, Danforth Museum of Art: Juried Group Exhibition
2013 Grand Prize Winner, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, Santa Fe, NM
PUBLICATIONS/INTERNATIONAL ARTICLES ON EDSON”S WORK
2018: “The County Fair’ published online gallery portfolio at The Vision Project.
2018: ‘The County Fair’ published online gallery at: The Social Documentary Network.
2018: B+W Spider Awards, Winner, Architecture
2018: The Weather Channel- Online Story about US Climate Change: Humarock , MA
2017: Chronagram: December 2017 Issue: Road Paint Photograph: Arts & Culture Section
2017: Graphis International 2017 Photography Annual: Gold Award
2017: Seven Days: Art Review: Road Paint: Arts Connect at Catamount Arts Juried Show
2017: B+W Spider Awards, Honorable Mention, Architecture
2017: Boston Political Protests and Marches’ at the Social Documentary Network Presentation at Silver Digital Imaging in Belmont, MA
2017: Published work on Social Documentary Network
2016: CNN Online: Article and Interview about my ‘Car Details’ series of photographs.
2016: Adore Noir: Article and interview on my 1970’s series of Black and White images.
2016: F11 Magazine: Article and interview on my ‘Road Paint’ and ‘Car Details’ series.
2016: Fah Thai Magazine, Profile w/ 2-page spread of photograph, Bangkok, Thailand
2016: Yankee Magazine 2016 Sept/Oct Issue: Vermont Covered Bridge.
