I Shot the Circus
Wondering about town yesterday we ran into a circus. Immediately I was excited. Mark Ellen Mark's portrayal of the Indian Circus so inspired me early on that seeing the tent from a distance filled my mind with her images. We approached through the gate and found out that there were two shows that evening. We learned that that the tent holds 5000 seats but they were only expecting a few hundred on a weeknight and fewer still for the eight o'clock show. Our plans were set. We were headed to our own private circus.
As expected, the show was low-tech, low-budget, lifeless and all together pretty depressing. There wasn't an exotic thing about it. We laughed, we covered our faces in shame, we were at times amazed but the final takeaway was one of having experienced a two and half hour talent show from the front row of a two-foot deep dirt hole. I couldn't have been happier. Seriously.
The photo is of a ramp over which five motorcycles and a jeep had jumped for the finale. The tent was empty of the 75 audience members and the lights hadn't been turned of yet. (That happened about thirty seconds later). It reminds me a little of Diane Arbus' Disney castle photo albeit not shot with a medium format camera. I like the texture and the eerie, run-down feel it provides. The little tilt seems to work too. I guess this will have to do as my homage to Ms. Mark and Ms. Arbus.
Take pictures at the Indian circus.
As expected, the show was low-tech, low-budget, lifeless and all together pretty depressing. There wasn't an exotic thing about it. We laughed, we covered our faces in shame, we were at times amazed but the final takeaway was one of having experienced a two and half hour talent show from the front row of a two-foot deep dirt hole. I couldn't have been happier. Seriously.
The photo is of a ramp over which five motorcycles and a jeep had jumped for the finale. The tent was empty of the 75 audience members and the lights hadn't been turned of yet. (That happened about thirty seconds later). It reminds me a little of Diane Arbus' Disney castle photo albeit not shot with a medium format camera. I like the texture and the eerie, run-down feel it provides. The little tilt seems to work too. I guess this will have to do as my homage to Ms. Mark and Ms. Arbus.
Take pictures at the Indian circus.
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