Arthur Grace's State Fair is an affectionate, skillful, and keen observation of a quirky phase of our human comedy. In deceptively casual black-and-white photographs totally absent of attitude and theatrics, his instant observation quickly cuts to the chase, presenting visuals with nothing superfluous and nothing left out. Let us thank our lucky stars that Grace has taken the time and energy to examine and bring us something of our American culture that is original, unique, and essentially uncorrupted.

—Elliott Erwitt

"I couldn't help thinking that if aliens ever landed on Earth and you only had a few hours to help them understand America, all you would have to do is take them to any state fair. For me, a state fair is a microcosm of America—in all its glory and weirdness—at any given point in time."

—Arthur Grace

From prize-winning pigs to corn dog-eating contests, from beauty queens to marching bands, from gravity-defying midway rides to miracle machines for back pain, from butter sculptures to demolition derbies, state fairs are a mother lode of pure Americana.

State Fair is a visual distillation of Arthur Grace's photographic odyssey through fairs in ten states—California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia. Time and again, regardless of geographical location, Grace's images deftly capture the strange mixture of the traditional, the kitsch, and the off-the-wall that is unique to these annual gatherings, which began as a celebration of rural American life and have evolved into super-sized extravaganzas. Whether the photographs show the beaming pride of 4-H egg champions, the intensity of a tattooed arm wrestler, or a forlorn alligator waiting to be "wrestled" in a wading pool, the authenticity of Grace's imagery is unmistakable. You can almost hear the shouts from the midway, smell the animals in the barns, and taste the cherry pie.

Sure to bring back vivid memories for anyone who's ever attended a state fair, and bound to entice the uninitiated, State Fair reminds us how much we still crave to go out and have real experiences beyond the fantasies we see on our computer, TV, and movie screens. It shows that far from being an anachronism in the twenty-first century, state fairs are a vital, living tradition throughout America.