Avery Danziger
With a Carolina native’s sense of the myths and methods of the South, Danziger is a master capturer of the quirky conjunctions and sometimes (but not always) humorous ironies of people having fun, seeing and being seen. A shooting gallery winner with a 5½-foot plush shark. Midway attractions of women morphing into beasts. A free Bible quiz that lights up green for true, red for false. Through the unavoidable scrim of anachronism and “show biz,” Danziger’s shots always show the essential humanity of his subjects and his images always document his easy and personal connection to real people rather than stereotypes. Every image frames a memory and each of his narratives gives a textured glimpse of the artist’s life and times. Notwithstanding that the region continues to be divided by economic, religious, and racial differences, Danziger sees the fair, consistently through 50 years, as a great mixer of people and, in some ways, a holiday from insularity, suspicion, and racism. He returns with his camera every October; for him, it's a fair of the heart.
I look at a subject several times, sometimes coming back to it, and I just know when it's exactly what I want. Take, for instance, the wonderful photograph that you’re publishing of the two children in front of the pig. As soon as I saw the image back on my computer at home, I knew it was not only a keeper, but a delightful image because of the relationship of the eyes on the pig, the boy, and the girl, coupled with the serendipity of the young girl holding a squirrel target. It's the involvement of the photographer with his subject that makes an image a success. It is a kind of "crazy love" for both your subject, and the people who may eventually see the photograph.