All's Fair?

Some shots from Bird's, the funfair that accompanies Puck Fair in Killorglin, Ireland. I love neon and fairgrounds are wonderful - edgy, glitzy and tasteless. I went in the pouring rain, which heightened the atmosphere. Very few people were there, but the lights were still on and the music pumped.

The horse-racing game, at which I failed miserably

A prize pooch

Ok, the pedant in me is distracted by the lights

The definition of loneliness?

Like some giant mechanical flower

Another of my favourite shots.

I was playing with long exposures to capture movement here - I think it worked, though I was shooting handheld.

I Want To See The Bright Lights

(Sorry, Richard Thompson reference there). A few more from Puck Fair by night. Rest here, click on these for big versions.

There's something of the abbatoir about these monkeys

Guitarist from The Walls (ex-The Stunning)

All the fun of the fair

I love funfairs. I won't go on any of the rides, except the dodgems - and that's probably because I can't drive anything else. An American told me yesterday that over there, the object is to avoid all the other cars. Say it ain't so? What a waste of time.

But I digress. What do I love about fairs? The neon, gaudy colours, airbrush painting, flashing lights, competing sound systems, over-excited kids, the slight air of disreputability, candy floss and onions and doughnuts fighting for olfactory dominance: all these things come to mind, the Ferris wheel scene in The Third Man, plus the wonderful, terrifying seaside fair scenes in Brighton Rock (books or films).

So I went out with my camera last night. We wandered through Bird's Euroshow Fair, then caught a set by The Walls, formerly The Stunning, whose biggest hit was the sublime 'Brewing Up A Storm'. All the pictures are here, but these are some favourites (click on them for larger images).

How's this for shameless opportunism?

How much is that doggie in the window?

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