Circo

Circo de Mexico I was photographing in the ruins of Monte Alban, outside of Oaxaca, when I came across a travelling circus. The circus, run by one family, moved about rural Mexico, near Tlacalula, an area populated primarily by poor indigenous Zapotek people. The show took place in a large, dusty ring, under a big tent, and was always a sold out event. This little circus offered all the elements a circus requires; an elephant, a camel, a giraffe, a tiger, a couple of horses, some performing dogs, 3 clowns and a trapeze act. And every member of the family performed, and participated in the care and tending of the animals as well as the setting up and dismantling of the show. I spent a few wonderous days behind the scenes and as I photographed the family. I was very moved by the enormous show of affection and camaraderie they expressed for one another. The children, free to roam, scampered over trucks and tents and animal cages. This was their world, they were on top of it and loved to show it to anyone lucky enough to have stepped into it.