Between The Tent And The Caravans: Fossett's

I was down to read in Writers' Week in Listowel and spotted the big top going up from the window of the hotel room.

I have photographed circus performers before, though only briefly. But although I can't remember any offhand, I've no doubt countless photographers have crossed this threshold; the circus is one of those things that have traditionally drawn artists over the centuries. Jack B Yeats comes to mind, even before his brother's poems 'The Circus Animals Desertion' and 'High Talk', etc. The circus is a living symbol, or rather a hub of various symbols, so there is always that fascination. It seems almost incongruous that circuses still exist; almost but not quite. In a certain light, circuses seem like primitive religions, especially circuses with caged animals (Fossett's doesn't have any exotic animals, as I discovered). I have never actually attended a circus performance since I was a child, and I have a vivid memory of becoming so upset by the darkness and noise and (so I was told) the cruelty, that I had to be quickly taken out (this is one of those very early memories which may well be mostly fiction).

Back to Listowel: I finally decided to go and check it out on the second last day, Sunday (the day I read with Joe Woods in St. John's). I approached the cluster of caravans from a lane behind the hotel and through a parking lot. I met a security guy who showed me to the art director's caravan. His name was Robert, and he was fine with my taking portraits of the performers, so long as they were okay with it themselves.

And they were. I met Marion Fossett out the back, in an area between the tent and the caravans where performers came to grab a quick break between acts. I also met her niece Sarah and various other performers/workers. And I was also admitted into the darkroom space behind the curtain, and into the small changing room/caravan.

I felt very privileged. These were extremely busy people, whose life is absolutely packed with duties. They were charming and courteous. Once again, I missed the show, but found something more interesting I think: that world we usually see in passing, its peak that rises and drops like a strange graph just around the corner, and the people who live that life, being professionally, and unprofessionally, themselves.

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