During the 70's, thousands of people flocked to the Annual Fiddlers Contest in Newfane. It happened on the piece of ground between Rt. 30 and a cemetery, where the Flea Market is now located. It was ultimately the noise of the fiddlers and their followers that ended the contest, out of respect for the cemetery, but it was also an annual celebration of free expression, country music and real Americana. It was all new for me, of course, coming from "Old Europe," and I was one of the few people there with a camera. So many great subjects for photography, and I took it all in! The people were oblivious to my presence and so were completely natural and uninhibited -- just themselves. Nowadays, everyone has a camera, it seems, but there are no longer subjects like these!
