In 1958, the photographer Bruce davidson, with 24 years of age, at the suggestion of Sam Holmes who at that time was in charge of the image library of the photographic agency Magnum, began documenting life behind the curtains of the circus, a cultural phenomenon, which at that time, was beginning to die.
The powerful photographs that he began to take would be part of one of his most important works: Circus, a visual chronicle in black and white that narrated the lives of the members of these traveling shows.
Installed in the circus Clyde beatty de New Jersey, During the second installment of his series, his work began to take a more critical angle, and he met who would become the most endearing character in his lens: Jimmy Armstrong, The Dwarf Clow.
Source: © Bruce Davidson | Magnum photos
According to Bruce himself, who wandered around the "backyard" area where the performers had their trailers and spent their time when they weren't performing, he was immediately captivated by the quiet normality of the scene before him, and it didn't take long. to see a child-sized person smoking alone outside one of the circus's colorful tents.
"He was dressed in a tuxedo and a top hat, he was holding a small bouquet of paper flowers and he stood there pensively in the privacy of his inner thoughts."
Davidson walked over to him and began take photos. From the beginning, he says, "he seemed to know that it was the inner moment that attracted me and not his clown face or physical appearance," and it was then that Jimmy became the photographer's gateway; by letting him into his private world and acting as his guide to circus life, Bruce's job became endearing, personal and revealing.
Source: © Bruce Davidson | Magnum photos
They became friends although they rarely spoke because Jimmy most of the time opted for silence, however, their bond was tacit understanding, of satisfaction in being in each other's company without the need for words.
In many of Davidson's photographs, Jimmy is alone, putting on makeup, immersed in his work, smoking a cigarette or posing with that sad clown face painted over his, perhaps even sadder.
In many others, Jimmy is almost lost in some corner of the photo frame, but in others he fills it completely, with his gaze directed directly into the lens.
Source: © Bruce Davidson | Magnum photos
In the end as a reflection of the uncomfortable realities behind the "f", as circuses are commonly referred to in the slang American, the images of the born on July 5, 1933 in Oak Park, Illinois they are a frontal conversation about loneliness, work, and sometimes the implicit isolation that comes with being a dwarf, and therefore always to some extent a stranger.
Although also, in all that universe, Jimmy Armstrong He had acceptance, a family, and earned a salary to live a life for himself, and that, the portraitist mentions, is also a fundamental part for the pictures transcended, because in the end they shed lights of heroism and dignity.
After touring with the circus and Jimmy, it was time to part ways, a process that Davidson found extremely difficult, declaring that "it is easier to enter a world than to leave it," although for Jimmy, who has lived his entire life in the road, it was part of the Show.
For a time, the pair of friends wrote through cards, where Jimmy was telling Bruce about all the towns he was going to visit with the circus, however, over time they lost track of each other.
Davidson does not think there is any photograph that he regrets not taking, especially since that series, but he does have a wish, since he gave him one Yashika 6 × 6 to your friend as a parting gift. If anything, you've always wondered what pictures Jimmy took, as he would love to see them.
To Bruce, Jimmy was a giant in his eyes. His series Circus, Despite all their themes and after a lapse of almost six decades, the photos continue to resonate strongly, as much as a mirror to the lives of traveling artists, as the intimate portrait of a close friend.
