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t often feels like there are only ever two

types of people who want to run away to

the circus: children and photographers.

Over the years, the list of photojournalists

who have documented life in the big top

reads like a who’s who of 20th century

photography: Walker Evans, Edward Weston,

Diane Arbus, Weegee, August Sander, Lisette

Model, Bruce Davidson and more.

The subject has perhaps only declined in

popularity in recent years because the number

of circuses themselves has dwindled. However,

one photographer who has been adding to this

canon of greats is Norma I Quintana.

In 1999, the California-based

photographer had been struggling to settle

upon a new project when a promoter handed

her a complimentary ticket for James

Judkins’s Circus Chimera as she sat in

a local café. Norma had visited circuses as

a child and so the prospect of returning as

an adult piqued her curiosity. ‘I was always

spellbound by the nomadic quality of the

performers’ lives,’ she recalls. ‘I was curious

as to who they were and I felt a kinship, as

if they were my people.’

That sense of family and belonging

quickly became a powerful motivation for

the project, as Norma wanted to get a sense

of the relationships and personalities behind

the spandex outfits and clown make-up.

Working with medium-format Hasselblad

cameras, Kodak Tri-X Professional film and

natural light, she forsook the bright lights

and dynamic performances in the big top

for a more intimate collection of backstage

Pain Opposite Embrace

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