Some new photos from Fort Wayne

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Last week, I noticed that this fire hydrant in downtown Fort Wayne had eyes!
 
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On the Fourth of July, I drove around my hometown looking for interesting patriotic displays for the holiday. This garden's fence was a permanent fixture, rather than a holiday display, but it intrigued me because it included a Chinese flag along with a couple of American flags.

The owners weren't home, but their neighbors told me that the garden is owned by an American man and his Chinese wife. They both love America, and she is proud of her heritage, so they put both flags on their garden fence.

This is on Ontario Street, in the working class neighborhood around Brooklyn Avenue on the west side of Fort Wayne, Indiana. I photographed it in the evening around 7pm, before my son and I went to see the fireworks.
 
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A couple of weeks ago, I drove out to Maples, a tiny town in southeast Allen County that I had never visited before. This bar, built in the 1890s, sits at the corner of Franke Road and Holmes Street. To me, it looks like something out of the old west. The town of Maples only has six streets, two businesses (the other is a grain elevator), and a church.

I photographed it pretty late in the evening, around 9pm.
 
Have you ever thought of doing a book of your US flag photos Chris? It could be a seller judging by the love of the flag that is so widely evident in your country. Your fine eye for the whimsical could bring a deeper look to the subject than the obvious patriotic themes.
 
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Today is the first day of the Three Rivers Festival in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. I'll be down there several times over the next week with my camera photographing interesting people!

Here is one I made during the 2009 festival, which I've finally gotten scanned and added to my website today (yeah, I am THAT far behind!).
 
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When I pointed my camera at this group of children getting their faces painted like Native American warriors, the woman in the wheelchair looked right at me! This was at the annual Johnny Appleseed Festival in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The festival is held at the park where the historical Johnny Appleseed, John Chapman, is buried.

I made this back in September, 2009. Still catching up on old work!
 
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Another from my backlog of film waiting to be scanned and edited. This one is from September 19, 2009.

This baby girl smiled and waved to me when her grandpa held her up. They were at the Johnny Appleseed Festival, a pioneer festival held every fall in Fort Wayne.
 
Chris,

Thanks for continuing to share your work here. I mainly photograph my immediate environs, and you inspire me to try to see them in fresh ways in my own photography.

Regards,
Chip
 
ChipMcD said:
Chris,

Thanks for continuing to share your work here. I mainly photograph my immediate environs, and you inspire me to try to see them in fresh ways in my own photography.

Regards,
Chip
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Thanks, Chip. I have found that everywhere I have lived there is so much to see, explore, document, and learn about..so many stories to tell..that I do not have to travel to exotic locations to photograph. I feel a connection to the places I photograph here in northeast Indiana because it has been home for most of my life.
 
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Here is another new one from my 2009 archive. This family was walking through the Johnny Appleseed Festival, seemingly led by the little girl playing a wooden flute purchased there.
 
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One from the really old archives!

I made this photograph of weathered old logs stacked up in my parents backyard when I was 17 years old. My father always kept around a lot of old wood from trees he cut down so that we could use it as firewood when we went camping.
 
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In small towns all over Indiana, Veterans groups like The American Legion and the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) are major centers of community life.

American Legion Post 157 is on Main Street (US-33) in the small town of Churubsco, Indiana. I photographed it a few days after the Fourth of July holiday, so they had a sign up that said "Freedom isn't free, support our troops", and a banner with the famous image of the Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima that said "Honor our fallen soldiers."
 
paulfish4570 said:
i dig that garden fence/flag photo. i'd love to see the couple posing with it ...
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Me too. I haven't met them yet! I'm going to give them a print, but I can't afford the ink to print it until I sell some more photos. My printer is all out, and it'll cost me $100 for new ink, and I am broke right now.
 
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This little boy was eating next to a carnival game tent during the Three Rivers Festival at Headwaters Park in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. I shot it Sunday afternoon.
 
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A giant concrete turtle watches the traffic from his place at the intersection of Main Street (US-33) and Line Street in the small town of Churubusco, Indiana. The turtle represents the "Beast of Busco", a giant turtle that a local farmer claimed to have seen in his pond in the early 20th Century. The turtle, named Oscar by locals, was never found. In some accounts, Oscar was claimed to weigh 500lb, and in others it was claimed that he was as big as a small car!

Today, Churubusco has embraced the legend of the giant turtle. The signs on the highway that welcome people to Churubusco proclaim the town to be "Turtle Town USA", and the town has an annual "Turtle Days Festival."

I photographed this on a rainy afternoon last week.
 
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I shot this last night at the Three Rivers Festival in Fort Wayne. The week long festival is held every year in July. The rides were deserted, which was no surprise given that they were charging $5 per person for each ride!
 
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