Playful yet haunting, Mary Ellen Mark’s photographs of Indian circus performers depict a world on the brink of disappearance. In 1969, Mark first traveled to India and photographed a circus, captivated by its "beauty and innocence." Two decades later, she returned for six months to document 18 circuses across the country, from bustling cities to remote villages.
Ranging from large troupes with hundreds of performers—both human and animal—to small, intimate acts, Mark's lens captures not the spectacle of the shows, but the quiet moments in between: scenes of practice, rest, and life beyond the spotlight. Her focus is on the human experience—marked by the contradictions of humor and sadness, beauty and hardship. By the time of Mark’s project, Indian circuses were already fading, holding onto an innocence long lost in the West, as they struggled against the pressures of the modern world.
This new edition of her 1993 book preserves the original text and images but reimagines the sequence and design, staying true to Mark’s poignant vision of a dying art form.
Mary Ellen Mark: Indian Circus
Category: Photographer Monographs & Art Books
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Author: Mary Ellen Mark
Publisher: Steidl
Publication Date:
2024
Print Length: 160 pages
Language: English
Price: paid
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Selected Books by This Photographer
Mary Ellen Mark: Encounters
2023 - Steidl/C/O Berlin
Mary Ellen Mark, Sophia Greiff, Kathrin Schönegg
Mary Ellen Mark: Tiny, Streetwise Revisited
2015 - Aperture
Isabel Allende, John Irving, Martin Bell, Mary Ellen Mark
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