Something Not So Wicked

One of my earliest memories is of going to a circus in England with my mother, and being so overwhelmed (by the noise, I think, the cruelty, the crowds, the bigness of everything) that I wailed to be returned to the ordinary, forgettable light of day.

Circuses fascinate me now. Part of this might be a flavour of Ray Bradbury, whom I haven't read in decades, but who was one of my first 'grown-up' writers, my stepping stone from Enid Bylton and Gerald Durrel into a darker and more interesting universe where exotic and sinister carnivals played a part, rolling into lonely midwestern towns; books like Something Wicked This Way Comes or The Illustrated Man. Then there was Diane Arbus, with her starkly lit circus performers, like a certain Lady Sandra, who is featured on the website (wait for it) Swordswallow.com.

Anyway, after managing to get a bit of writing done, I had left myself too little time as usual this evening; long enough to go for a DVD and a very short drive, which is when I noticed the flags of Duffy's Circus, returned to its little field/carpark near Blackrock Park. I didn't think I'd have much of a chance to photograph anything; the security is tight with Duffy's, perhaps circuses in general. Then I noticed this man talking with a woman and little girl (possibly passers by, though they seemed to be acquainted). I asked him if I could take his portrait and he agreed, a little bemused. I shot about eight frames and managed to catch him not smiling in a few. Notice the loose button. It is a detail like this (which I only clocked once it was in Photoshop) that makes a portrait come that bit more alive that makes it memorable. In his book on photography, Camera Lucida, Roland Barthes calls this the punctum ('that which pierces the viewer).

NB
More weird synchronicity. I've just noticed that the blip I posted exactly a year ago is of the Martello Tower in Blackrock, taken from the carpark where the circus is now sitting.