Ashton Circus
Brisbane 1988
Ashton Circus is the longest-running circus in Australia, pre-dating most others in the English-speaking world. Founded in the mid-1800s by Henry Ashton James—who was schooled in the tradition of English circuses—direct descendants of the Ashton family still touring today (1988), operating three separate circuses across the country.
It was 1988 with no digital photography in sight, I spotted a poster, the Ashtons Circus was coming to town. Childhood memories flooded back of the days as children we would run down to the local park to witness the circus carnival, unloading the trucks, putting up the tents, walking the elephants and feeding the animals, so exciting to a child. As an adult I was determined to explore these nomadic people and their show. I asked the owners for permission to photograph the performers and members of the crew, they welcomed me and give me almost free access to their entire camp.
I followed the circus over three weeks as they moved camps within Brisbane. I found the circus people welcoming and sometimes a little complacent with photographers in general, it seemed they were used to being asked to be photographic subjects. Most of my time with the circus I felt virtually invisible, no one seemed to be bothered by my work. I was left to myself to capture these images. Some performers were completely cooperative and willing to go out of their way to pose for me sometimes inviting me back to their caravans to set up a special shots. Others were less interested and had obviously been given too much attention by other photographers in the past. The crew didn’t seem to notice me, they thought they were of less interest to a photographer, which actually made them a prize for me to capture.
Circus people of that era the 80s were truly amazing characters. Some were runaways, others were fifth-generation performers. At that time, they were working with performing animals, exotics such as lions, tigers, elephants, and camels. There was a constant, deep growl of the cats in their cages, which permeated the night.
One experience I had was with an elephant, who I was warned repeatedly to avoid as she had killed before. In the total darkness backstage she crept up beside me with her trunk touching my arm, to sneak a peak through the curtains at the performance on stage. I slowly became aware of her closeness and we watched the performance together. How amazing. I enjoyed her company.
