DES MOINES, Iowa — This summer, you can send your mail off with a piece of the Iowa State Fair.
That's because a Des Moines photographer's picture of the fair was recently chosen to become a USPS stamp.
In his day job, Phil Roeder is the Director of Communications and Public Affairs for Des Moines Public Schools, but one of his lifelong passions is photography.
Now, a picture he took at the fair is becoming a postage stamp.
"I firmly believe that almost anything in anybody has the potential of making an interesting photograph," Roeder said.
In 2014, with his camera in hand, Roeder set off to the Iowa State Fair and left with a night-time photo of a Ferris wheel.
Now, a decade later, that photo was chosen to be part of the United States Postal Service's Carnival Nights stamp collection.
"I feel it'd be hard to do a series on carnival nights and not have the Iowa State Fair be a part of that," Roeder said.
He received notice a year ago that the Postal Service was interested in using the photo, which is licensed through Getty Images.
Then, about a month ago, Roeder found out it was going to be used in the stamp collection.
"I realized that a lot of those are going to end up in the garbage can after people open their mail, but at the same time, you know, it's nice to have your work seen," Roeder said.
While lots of trash cans across America might see the stamps, the reach of his art excites Roeder.
"Stamps are kind of an interesting little bit of public art in themselves,” he said. “I mean they are literally little, but they're also something people are exposed to all across the country in one way or another."
The stamp collection will be released on June 6 and features nine other photographs.
Last year, Roeder completed a BFA in digital photography through Arizona State University. Now, he's working on an online masters in photography through Falmouth University in the United Kingdom.