Circus: A Traveling Life

Description

For a decade, photographer Norma I. Quintana followed a traveling American one-ring circus photographing its acrobats, aerialists and artists. Not satisfied to snap images from the stands, Quintana photographed her subjects behind the curtains, perfecting their craft and living their lives. The resulting black and white photography book, Circus: A Traveling Life, documents the everyday lives of these performers in “back of the house.” The book will be launched internationally this October with the first exhibition and book signing being at RayKo Photo Center on October 30th. The book, designed by Yolanda Cuomo of New York and published by Damiani Editore of Bologna, Italy, features nearly one hundred full-page, luminous black and white portraits, reproduced in duotones by master printer, Robert Hennessey. The book also features an introduction by Mona Simpson and personal essay from the author on her experience photographing the circus. Signed, limited edition books are available at the event.
A selection of 30 handcrafted gelatin silver prints from medium format film will be on view for the exhibition. There is a marked intimacy in these photographs, achieved by Quintana slowly introducing herself into a community of performance families. As Mona Simpson, author of Anywhere But Here, describes in her introduction to Circus: A Traveling Life, “The trust between photographer and subject that developed over that time is evident. Quintana took her time learning the lineage of these circus families. She presents them not as freaks or compulsives, but as workers in a private, insular, now almost-extinct world.”
An analog photographer in the 21st century, Quintana creates rich, dynamic black and white portraits with a Hasselblad camera and an intuitive eye. She explains how she was able to capture performance artists, in constant motion, without the conveniences of digital photography: “I learned to trust my own vision and imagination in the face of unforeseen events. I tried to capture these values through my lens, just as I was captured by the circus.” Norma I. Quintana (born 1954) is an American photographer and educator working in the social documentary tradition, shooting exclusively in black and white film and using only available light.

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http://www.raykophoto.com

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