Beyond the Stick: A State Fair photo essay

'Waiting at the Little Boys Room,' 2011
"Waiting at the Little Boys Room," 2011
Debra Fisher Goldstein

For photographer Debra Fisher Goldstein, her project "Beyond the Stick" is a photo essay that "focuses on the peculiar, the poignant, the ironic and the iconic moments that happen when our diverse communities gather at the Great Minnesota Get-Together." It is an annual scavenger hunt, begun in 2006, for the moments that happen beyond the latest food on a stick. She then pairs the images with her own titles.

The Minnesota State Fair Foundation featured Fisher Goldstein's photography at the 2015 fair in a 55-image gallery exhibit at the Bailey House on the fairgrounds. Her work was also a part of the foundation's "First Glance" Fine Arts Exhibit fundraising event.

Fisher Goldstein said her interest in photography grew out of her love for the State Fair. "As an early photographer, I was horribly dissatisfied when my first photos came back from the lab. They didn't capture what I saw and what I felt."

She started by trying to capture the visual similarity between some of the 4-H kids and their companion cows. That began her study of photography and grew into this personal project, which she calls a gift — "my gift to myself, and to our community, because I believe that the shortest distance between two people is a shared moment."

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