Our state fair

Where some might see something ordinary, 62-year-old photographer and writer Kent Ullrich sees something extraordinary. In his first photo book, 'The Iowa State Fair,” Ullrich takes readers on a journey through the 150-year-old institution.

His first trip to the state fair was as an adult. Ullrich instantly was fascinated.

So in 2013 he immersed himself in the fair's activities, from cow milking to animal exhibits, arm wrestling contests to dairy queens, 4-H shows to cookouts and more.

'I basically lived at the fair for 12 days,” says Ullrich.

The result is 110 black-and-white photographs and eight essays published as a book by the University of Iowa Press this year.

Flipping through it, readers are able to live vicariously through Ullrich's experience at the fair, which he describes as a place of 'great joy, delight, happiness and laughter.”

Catherine Cocks, acquisitions editor for the University of Iowa Press described his photographs as being nothing other than warm and affectionate.

'You really do get the sense of him taking pleasure in the event,” Cocks says. 'Both the wacky, craziness (of the fair) and the things that really matter to the state.”

Ultimately, Ullrich said he wanted his book to celebrate the economic driving force behind the state: agriculture.

'For the last century and a half, the engine that has run Iowa has been agriculture,” Ullrich says. 'To its great, great credit, the Iowa State Fair still is about agriculture. It's not about the butter cow. It's not about whatever food on a stick you can get. It's about agriculture.”

Cocks said Ullrich's photographs, 50 of which are on display at the Old Capitol Museum in Iowa City through Aug. 10, not only give a sense of what's going on at the fair but also an artistic statement about what's beautiful about the fair.

'(The book) celebrates Iowa in a really beautiful and evocative way that people both inside and outside the state can really appreciate,” Cocks says. '(Ullrich) has a good eye for the sort of poetry of an ordinary event.”

The photographs also will be on display throughout the year in Sioux City and in Dubuque in 2015.

Ullrich also will be at this year's fair, which runs Aug. 7 to 17 signing books.

'I probably won't make a nickel on this (book) but I don't care,” Ullrich says. 'I'm just thrilled that people will get to see what I saw at the State Fair.”