Hiram Independence Day!

I photographed the Independence Day events in Hiram Ohio this year. July 4 is a special time in the village as residents and friends gather to celebrate the day. I found a very festive mood and dozens of people at the parking lot of the Hiram Christian Church. Hiram Police staged the annual bike rodeo where kids got to demonstrate their agility on bikes, trikes and scooters. Police officers were on hand to hep kids decorate their bikes in patriotic fashion. Families visited beneath the adjacent shade trees while the Kiwanis Club members served up refreshments. Local politicians were in the crowd drumming up support for the November election. Everywhere I looked I saw people smiling, laughing and wearing patriotic colors. Balloons billowed about in the crystal blue sky of a perfect summer evening. The parade followed the bike rodeo, and that led everyone down to the Hiram College athletic field where people got to check out a medical rescue helicopter from UH as they awaited the firework show later that evening.

Wonderful small town atmosphere as always, and great to see the police officers interacting with kids rather than just supervising the event. My take as an observer is a very close-knit community having fun. My approach as a photographer is to embed myself with the people rather than pick off zoom shots from the fringes. I’m at my best working face-to-face and shooting from extremely close range. There’s much more immediacy to the photos this way, and I’m better able to cajole people into the poses and facial expressions that work best. Very difficult to narrow down the photo selection but here’s a good sampling of the people and scenes I encountered.