SALON

Sunday, Feb 17, 2013 10:00 PM UTC

Seedy side of the circus

Jill Freedman's gritty black and white photography captures the dark side of a popular public spectacle

By

Topics: Hyperallergic, Jill Freedman, circus, Animals, zoos, Photography, Art,

Seedy side of the circusJill Freedman, “Circus Days” (1971), vintage gelatin silver print (All images courtesy Higher Pictures)
This article originally appeared on Hyperallergic.

In documenting the rough corners of 1970s New York, Jill Freedman brought out with her photography something old-school lurid; like the flashbulb exposures of Weegee and Brassaï in the decades before, she always offered a startlingly and very human view on her street subjects. When in 1971 the photographer, then in her early 30s, borrowed a white Volkswagen bus to join the circus for two months, she turned her 35-mm camera on the claustrophobia of the caged animals and strange lives of the clowns and performers.

Circus Days
Two photographs by Jill Freedman from “Circus Days” (1971), vintage gelatin silver prints

Hyperallergic Back in 1977, she published these images in a book called Circus Days, and Higher Pictures gallery in New York is now showing over 20 of the photographs for the first time in New York in an exhibition of the same name. While you might expect art about the circus to be whimsical and amusing, walking around the gallery is totally unsettling. Elephants are pushed into trucks that barely contain their bulk, clowns apply their thick makeup smiles and frowns that, if you have even a touch of coulrophobia (the popular term for the fear of clowns) will creep you out. Freedman totally immersed herself in her travels with the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus as they roamed the East Coast and pitched their striped tent in anonymous fields (no location is given for any of the photographs, the circus itself being the constant place). The personal connection she made with the people in the circus offered plenty of candid looks beyond the playful veneer of the circus into the tired faces and worn props that were resurrected each night under the big top.

Circus Days
Jill Freedman, “Circus Days” (1971), vintage gelatin silver print

Night after night, Freedman attended the circus performances, and some of her juxtapositions of the crowd with the main event are especially grim, like one in which a group of elephants are seated on chairs, likely compelled after years of harsh training, and in the foreground children also confined in wheelchairs watch. Subtlety is not the goal here, as one photograph goes in close to the chain around the elephant’s leg, and is installed next to another shot zoomed in on its surprisingly small and mournful eye surrounded by wrinkled flesh.

Circus Days
Jill Freedman, “Circus Days” (1971), vintage gelatin silver print
Circus Days
Jill Freedman, “Circus Days” (1971), vintage gelatin silver print

There’s also a built-in nostalgia, even if you’ve never attended a circus with a live lion and a tamer. Freedman wrote that:

The circus is a reminder of all those trips never taken, all those wild schemes gone cold in the sober morning. It’s a fragile fantasy, here today, gone tomorrow, free like we’re not. Free and nameless in a world full of bills and kids and credit cards that have got our numbers. The circus is an exuberant place, like childhood: a celebration of the joy of just being alive. It is a magic place, full of the mystery, terror, and ecstasy of childhood. It is grotesque and beautiful, strange and wondrous to behold. A place you feel more than you remember, where things imagined are as real as things happened…

The colors in the light filtering through the center poles, the pin and grommet holes, under the sidewalls. The sensual pleasure of a summer shower, wind and rain rapping the canvas over your head and you inside, warm and dry. Protected from the real world by a thin layer of magic. If we lose all of this, what will we have lost? And where will the free people go, when circus days, like the good old days, like the dreams you had, like the child you were, are gone.

Circus Days
Jill Freedman, “Circus Days” (1971), vintage gelatin silver print

Although she had a powerful eye in her documentary art, Freedman unfortunately dropped off the photography map in later decades due to health, finances, and personal feelings on the direction of contemporary photography. While New York is no longer like it was when in the 1970s and ’80s she photographed the camaraderie of cops taking on Alphabet City bar fights and other street violence, and firefighters battling the heat of flames and angry poverty in the south Bronx, the exhibition at Higher Pictures leaves you hoping she might someday again focus her camera to evoke the grimy, seedy side of its streets — or better yet, run away again to join the circus.

Jill Freedman: Circus Days runs at Higher Pictures (980 Madison Avenue) Upper East Side, shows through March 9, 2013.

Allison Meier

More Allison Meier.

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

7 motorist-friendly camping sites

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Sponsored Post

  • White River National Forest via Lower Crystal Lake, Colorado
    For those OK with the mainstream, White River Forest welcomes more than 10 million visitors a year, making it the most-visited recreation forest in the nation. But don’t hate it for being beautiful; it’s got substance, too. The forest boasts 8 wilderness areas, 2,500 miles of trail, 1,900 miles of winding service system roads, and 12 ski resorts (should your snow shredders fit the trunk space). If ice isn’t your thing: take the tire-friendly Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway — 82 miles connecting the towns of Meeker and Yampa, half of which is unpaved for you road rebels.
    fs.usda.gov/whiteriveryou


    Image credit: Getty

  • Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest via Noontootla Creek, Georgia
    Boasting 10 wildernesses, 430 miles of trail and 1,367 miles of trout-filled stream, this Georgia forest is hailed as a camper’s paradise. Try driving the Ridge and Valley Scenic Byway, which saw Civil War battles fought. If the tall peaks make your engine tremble, opt for the relatively flat Oconee National Forest, which offers smaller hills and an easy trail to the ghost town of Scull Shoals. Scaredy-cats can opt for John’s Mountain Overlook, which leads to twin waterfalls for the sensitive sightseer in you.
    fs.usda.gov/conf


    Image credit: flickr/chattoconeenf

  • Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area via Green Road, Michigan
    The only national forest in Lower Michigan, the Huron-Mainstee spans nearly 1 million acres of public land. Outside the requisite lush habitat for fish and wildlife on display, the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area is among the biggest hooks for visitors: offering beach camping with shores pounded by big, cerulean surf. Splash in some rum and you just might think you were in the Caribbean.
    fs.usda.gov/hmnf


    Image credit: umich.edu

  • Canaan Mountain via Backcountry Canaan Loop Road, West Virginia
    A favorite hailed by outdoorsman and author Johnny Molloy as some of the best high-country car camping sites anywhere in the country, you don’t have to go far to get away. Travel 20 miles west of Dolly Sods (among the busiest in the East) to find the Canaan Backcountry (for more quiet and peace). Those willing to leave the car for a bit and foot it would be remiss to neglect day-hiking the White Rim Rocks, Table Rock Overlook, or the rim at Blackwater River Gorge.
    fs.usda.gov/mnf


    Image credit: Getty

  • Mt. Rogers NRA via Hurricane Creek Road, North Carolina
    Most know it as the highest country they’ll see from North Carolina to New Hampshire. What they may not know? Car campers can get the same grand experience for less hassle. Drop the 50-pound backpacks and take the highway to the high country by stopping anywhere on the twisting (hence the name) Hurricane Road for access to a 15-mile loop that boasts the best of the grassy balds. It’s the road less travelled, and the high one, at that.
    fs.usda.gov/gwj


    Image credit: wikipedia.org

  • Long Key State Park via the Overseas Highway, Florida
    Hiking can get old; sometimes you’d rather paddle. For a weekend getaway of the coastal variety and quieter version of the Florida Keys that’s no less luxe, stick your head in the sand (and ocean, if snorkeling’s your thing) at any of Long Key’s 60 sites. Canoes and kayaks are aplenty, as are the hot showers and electric power source amenities. Think of it as the getaway from the typical getaway.
    floridastateparks.org/longkey/default.cfm


    Image credit: floridastateparks.org

  • Grand Canyon National Park via Crazy Jug Point, Arizona
    You didn’t think we’d neglect one of the world’s most famous national parks, did you? Nor would we dare lead you astray with one of the busiest parts of the park. With the Colorado River still within view of this cliff-edge site, Crazy Jug is a carside camper’s refuge from the troops of tourists. Find easy access to the Bill Hall Trail less than a mile from camp, and descend to get a peek at the volcanic Mt. Trumbull. (Fear not: It’s about as active as your typical lazy Sunday in front of the tube, if not more peaceful.)
    fs.usda.gov/kaibab


    Image credit: flickr/Irish Typepad

  • As the go-to (weekend) getaway car for fiscally conscious field trips with friends, the 2013 MINI Convertible is your campground racer of choice, allowing you and up to three of your co-pilots to take in all the beauty of nature high and low. And with a fuel efficiency that won’t leave you in the latter, you won’t have to worry about being left stranded (or awkwardly asking to go halfsies on gas expenses).


    Image credit: miniusa.com

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

Salon is proud to feature content from Hyperallergic, a forum for serious, playful and radical thinking about art in the world today.

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Let's Stop Screwing Around and Impeach James Clapper: After lying to Congress about all the different ways the NSA's spying on us, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lies about how he lied. Call the White House at 202 456-1111 and Tell Obama to Get Rid of Clapper
217 points218 points | 11 comments
vote
Let's Stop Screwing Around and Impeach James Clapper: After lying to Congress about all the different ways the NSA's spying on us, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lies about how he lied. Call the White House at 202 456-1111 and Tell Obama to Get Rid of Clapper
112 points113 points | 17 comments
vote
Machiavelli doesn’t belong to the 1 percent | "The Prince" is oft-quoted on Wall Street, but its author was a hero of the working class who despised elites
83 points84 points | 26 comments
vote
James Clapper is still lying to America: A smoking gun shows Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is a big liar -- and it's not the first time
28 points29 points | comment
vote
Let's Stop Screwing Around and Impeach James Clapper: After lying to Congress about all the different ways the NSA's spying on us, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lies about how he lied. Call the White House at 202 456-1111 and Tell Obama to Get Rid of Clapper
32 points33 points | 6 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Joker": Laughing at life's deepest sorrows