Michael Itkoff

Demo Derby Heat, Pittston, Pennsylvania,  2008

Michael Itkoff (b.1981. USA) is the editor of Daylight Magazine. His work is in public and private collections in the United States and he has been a recipient of the Howard Chapnick Grant for the Advancement of Photojournalism (2006), a Creative Artists Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Arts Council (2007), and a Puffin Foundation Grant (2008). Itkoff’s monograph ‘Street Portraits’ was published by Charta Editions in February 2009.

About the Photograph:

“The arena at the Northeast Fair in Pittston, PA is, like so many other demolition derby tracks, simply a patch of dirt surrounded by cement barriers. Instead of a grandstand with a stage and bleachers, the Northeast Fairgrounds boast a leveled off pit next to a hill from which the spectacle can be observed. Last June, men and women of all ages gathered one Saturday night for the fairs’ main event. Derby’s consist of one or more ‘heats’ where cars or trucks ram into each other until only one is able to move. An ambulance and fire truck is always on hand to evacuate injured participants and control any fires that may break out. This photograph was taken near the end of the last heat when many of the cars had been rendered immobile and the steam emanating from busted radiators shrouded the action in a ghostly fog.”

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