@laurakmorton

“Nothing else in the world smells like this. It smells like America!” a woman turned to me and exclaimed during the Demolition Derby on the final night of the Calaveras County Fair & Jumping Frog Jubilee in Angels Camp, California this May. The mix of crushed metal, mud, exhaust fumes, gasoline and transmission fluid does indeed make for a very specific olfactory experience. A 16-year-old high school sophomore Troy Dragomanovich (slide 3) was the big winner of the night. This photo is from a new project, “America’s Homecoming,” I began last summer, documenting the ways that, all across the country, communities celebrate their shared histories and customs with annual, traditional events. #Americashomecoming #CalavarasCounty #destructionderby #California