My deep love of history and curiosity about the world are the two fundamentals that continue to draw me to documentary photography. In today's world photography is so many things to so many people, but for me it is a rich source of information, a way to investigate the way others live, a conduit for insight, an opportunity for compassion and understanding. It is also a magic carpet on which to ride into the unknown and return with new knowledge and a greater appreciation for the larger world.
Long-term documentary studies are the stories that really engage me, especially in today's fast-paced world where everyone is in a rush to the finish, resulting in many stories being half-baked. I see a host of work produced each year, much of which reminds me of an underdone dish - all the ingredients are there, but in the frantic desire to get the plate on the table, some aspects are left raw, or not integrated, leaving the diner less than satisfied and disappointed because they know it could be so much better with a little more time and patience.
Norma I. Quintana's Circus: A Traveling Life is a beautifully prepared dish, created over a decade. Her commitment to the story of this one-ring travelling circus has resulted in a rich, multi-layered insight into a world few of us can imagine, and even fewer will ever live.
On the surface Circus is a story of a tight knit community dedicated to its craft and a way of life that is becoming less sustainable in the digital age. Yet it is a story that goes so much deeper and that’s the appeal for me. In Circus Quintana’s photographs gently reveal the bonds between performers and the admiration of parents and children for the other’s talents as well as the drudgery of the daily grind, and the euphoria of performance. It is a complete picture that can only have been told over an extended period of time.
Photographed in black and white, on film using only available light, Circus is incredibly satisfying as a documentary body of work. Quintana combines more formal portraiture as well as casual behind-the-scenes moments showing the performers as artists as well as everyday people. This is not a story that could have been shot by dropping in for a couple of weeks and then disappearing.
Other reviewers have compared Quintana's work to the likes of Diane Arbus, Bruce Davidson and Mary Ellen Mark and while these comparisons are obvious, Quintana also has a strong voice of her own, a visual signature that conveys the intimacy and trust she earned with her subjects. This is one of the true benefits of long term work; the opportunity to really get to know those you are photographing, for it is through mutual respect and the sharing of lives that the heart of a story can be found.
