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Tightrope Walker

G

inger, it turns out, was just one

of many performers who

moved on yet kept in touch.

‘Prior to Facebook, some of the

families would send me notes and

photographs and now we keep in touch via

Facebook and, of course, by mobile. When

I was doing my research in an effort to get

the facts correct [for the book], I would

write to them too. I felt like we shared a

similar creative memory,’ she adds. ‘For

them, a new show, and for me, this

documentary project.’

The photographer has since shared prints

from the series with the performers and

several have purchased her monograph too.

Her chosen medium has apparently proved

particularly poignant to some of her subjects

too. ‘Maybe it was because the images they

had of their families were in black & white?’

she suggests, semi-rhetorically.

After the intimacy of her circus family,

Norma has embarked upon a new project

with the working title of Tran spl ant s – a

collection of portraits of organ donors and

the people who receive them. The 60-year-

old photographer has yet to exhibit the work,

but yet again she is happy biding her time.

‘A project starts when I have something to

say,’ she comments. ‘It has to percolate.’



Circus: A Traveling Life by

Norma I Quintana is published in

hardback at £25.35 by Damiana

08-16_CIRCUS ER/MB.indd 1608-16_CIRCUS ER/MB.indd 16 22/01/2015 15:1022/01/2015 15: