Wlodkowski likes the perspective: a little child in complete control while riding a really big animal
Courtesy of Stanley Wlodkowski 2005.
Stanley Wlodkowski isn't the kind of guy to pick a fight with a bull.
But he just wasn't happy sitting in the stands of the DuPage County Fair rodeo.
"I wasn't getting any good pictures of the bull riding," said Wlodkowski, who has been the fair's official photographer since 1989. "One of the clowns noticed my badge. .and suggested I go inside the ring."
When the bull took notice, the photographer stopped snapping and started running. "I went to jump over the fence, and my foot slipped," said Wlodkowski, whose watchband got caught and held him against the fence just within reach of the bull's horns.
"For two years, I didn't go back into the ring," he said.
That's OK because he's managed to find plenty of other memorable images during the five day fair in July, when Wlodkowski roams the fairgrounds looking for memorable moments from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
In anticipation of the upcoming fair, we asked the photographer, a Chicago resident with a wedding and portrait studio, to pick out 10 of his favorite images from the 17 fairs he's photographed.
We're printing some of those favorites in today's Neighbor section. Others can be found online at www.dailyherald.com.
- Anne Halston
Wlodkowski likes this image because the boy seems completely enthralled by the animal.
Courtesy of Stanley Wlodkowski 2004
To promote the event, the fair queen used to do a live broadcast on Michigan Avenue with a cow, giving some passers-by a chance to milk a cow in Chicago.
Courtesy of Stanley Wlodkowski 1997.
This was taken when they were releasing the livestock Sunday night after all the fairgoers were long gone.
Courtesy of Stanley Wlodkowski 2005
Another tender moment and sweet expression of a child with an animal.
Courtesy of Stanley Wlodkowski 2003.
That tub of water was actually there for the livestock to drink on a hot day at the fair. "These guys just decided to go for a swim. In all the years of the fair, they're the only two that I've seen do that."
Courtesy of Stanley Wlodkowski 1997.
This captures the sense that there is a lot of hard work that goes into what happens at the fair.
Courtesy of Stanley Wlodkowski 2003.
A sweet moment in the petting zoo.
Courtesy of Stanley Wlodkowski 2004.
This was Wlodkowski's last picture of the day.
Courtesy of Stanley Wlodkowski 2007
This is a nice reminder that the fair is both fun and educational.
Courtesy of Stanley Wlodkowski 2006