American Festivals Project

A certain friend of mine wrote in an email, “It’s sort of hard knowing what is going on from your blog.”  Well, that is a true statement, and I apologize for such ambiguity and lack of story telling up to this point.  Honestly though, the “open road” has not led to any incredible adventures or stories–yet.

So far I’ve found the vast expanse of America to be rather mundane.  We’ve had some big breaks between events.  We’ve been sticking to major highways up until this past week, so the majority of what we’ve seen is the repetition of strip malls, interstate exits, and tackily-named subdivisions.  I saw a subdivision two days ago outside of Chicago that had literally built a fifteen foot waterfall cascading around the entrance sign that read something like, “Nature’s Falls”, or “Cascading Valley”.  It’s a wonder to me that people are attracted to living in these neighborhoods.  However, just a month or two ago I was having a conversation with my brother about how a subdivision is an attractive option for someone with kids.  It provides a place for kids to play in a controlled area, and it is guaranteed that shopping and schools will be relatively close by.  The yards are manicured and attainable.  Things seem organized.

And going back to the theme of tacky America, let me also add that we have not been “West” yet.  I expect the terrain to be considerably more beautiful and less full of these endless strips of gas stations and every kind of fast food restaurant you can think of.

So, some people reading this might find it unbelievable that there has not been much “adventure” thus far.  But most of our time is spent driving to the next destination, and usually with limited time to get there.  Hopefully, as we plan ahead more accordingly, there will be ample time during our driving to seek out interesting sites and adventurous excursions.  Everything takes work folks, everything.

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Last week, for example, was spent in the middle of corn fields, waiting for the opportune time to photograph the Richardson’s world’s largest corn maze–or so they still contest.  There are many factors of discrepancy when it comes to measuring the size of a corn maze.  It could be measured by the field acreage, or the size of the actual maze, or the distance of all the trails.  The fact is, there is no real of way judging the size of a corn maze, therefore several people in the country claim to have the largest.

The Richardson’s maze, in my opinion, holds the record because they have over eleven miles of maze trails.  And even if they aren’t the world’s largest, they certainly have the best designed maze–at least from what I’ve seen on the internet.

As I witnessed at the Richardson’s fifth generation farm, the suburbs of Chicago are quickly advancing, taking over farm land like an unmonitored plaugue.  “Farm tourism” seems like a more profitable venture than actually farming.  The Richardson’s have adapted well to their perdicament, by implementing a Christmas tree farm, the corn maze, and a place for the suburbanites to come and experience a clean, edited version of “farm life”.

I originally thought that a corn maze would fit into our theme of documenting festivals and events because it is so specifically American.  Although the concept of a field maze originated in England, the American farmer did a good job of incorporating it into one of our most superabundant crops: corn.  And a corn maze is exactly the kind of thing that I find asking myself, “How did we, as Americans, come to develop such an odd form of entertainment?”

As I walked through the Richardson’s maze on the second day after we arrived (the first day was blustery and rainy), I was still trying to figure out the answer to that question, and moreso why people found a corn maze fun, or even challenging.  The problem was that I was not experiencing the maze with a group children.  Children are the key.  When I went through the maze I carefully noted each turn that I made.  I never got lost.  It never seemed like a challenge.   When I went through the maze with a group of 6th grade boys, they rushed into the maze looking for the first check-point and forget to keep track of their location.  Literally, within one minute they were completely lost and had no guage of determining their location.  Not only was it challenging for them, but they absolutely loved it!  I ran almost half the maze with them as they argued over their supposed location.  A slightly overweight kid in the group was soon left behind due to the boys’ pace, so the two of us decided to take a “breather” on one of the look-out bridges.  He did not seem as entertained by the maze as the others.  I think he would have rather been playing a video game maze that involved shooting zombies at every blind corner.

Despite the fun excursion with the 6th grade boys, I felt like I did not get adaquate opportunities to photoraph the maze.  The first day it rained.  Monday and Tuesday they were closed.  Wednesday was my only chance, and only a few school groups came throughout the day.  No one came at night.  We had to leave Thursday.

And now I’m not even sure if I will include the corn maze in the final body of work.  It feels too abstract.  I’m curious to hear what people think.

Four days in the corn fields.  Patience is perhaps the key of photography.

Many thanks to the Richardsons for their hospitality.  (Here, Robert took us up in the family plane to get some aerial shots.)