Book Review: "Kicking Sawdust: Running Away with the Circus and Carnival" by Clayton Anderson
I have some pretty distinct memories of going to see the circus with my parents when I was a child. The feeling I always experienced most thoroughly was that of excitement, coupled with a bit of fear. Sure, the animals were fun to see. The performers were fascinating, and the crowds that even came to see them were intriguing. The clowns, okay, I will admit, scared me some (but thankfully didn't carry over into my adult life), as was the fact that everything always seemed to be moving in unison. At the same time, tremendous amounts of sound permeated the air. It was most certainly me to an extent, but they always overwhelmed me to the point of never being sure I wanted to go back again for more. Beyond all of this, I plainly remember walking into and walking out of the tents and seating areas. When the bluster of the events subsided, there was an air of normalcy and calmness that enabled me to see beyond the performance and realize that there was a life of its own outside of the spotlight. I found the quiet moments to be as wonderful as the entertainment my folks had brought me out to witness. With these memories, I was drawn to photographer Clayton Anderson's new monograph, Kicking Sawdust: Running Away with the Circus and Carnival.
The result of this book, whose photographs were made between 1988 and 1992, is a collection of pictures made at the behest of a close friend who implored Anderson to take pictures while traveling with the circus and working for his family's concession stand business. A slice of life that quickly brought an immense sense of nostalgia my way. This is a book that I would describe as "an inside job." It wasn't created by someone who was documenting a lifestyle that was odd and interesting or had some sort of social impact, but one made while living that lifestyle and being a part of the overall experience. This was an immersion in a life thought to be on the fringe of society. The pages flow through the type of quiet scenes I remember as a child, on through to the performers - both in action and as portraits - to the inner working of the circus itself and the persons who make it tick. There are performers and animals flying through the air, sideshow oddities, swords being swallowed, bodies on fire, and of course, a clown or two. There is a particular innocence to the portraits found here and one being taken by someone without the preconceived notion that they were working on a project or book. Instead, these images are combined from love and admiration for the time spent in the arms of an expanding group of friends and family. This is the recording of a community. Hence, there is a warmth and humanity to everyone documented within the pages of this beautiful world printed in stunning black and white.
With a foreword by Katherine Kavanagh, writer and circus historian, we get some valuable background information that lends perfect context to the images you are about to witness as you turn the pages of this wonderfully sequenced book. Equally as crucial to the book's sense of completeness is an interview between two circus veterans, Dominique Jando and Tessa Fontaine, in which we gain precious insight into the hearts and minds of the performers who give it their all, day in and day out. From my perspective, however, it is the opening passage from Jack Pierson, the friend of Clayton Anderson who recommended he purchase the camera that documented these engaging and now historical scenes, that sets the tone for the book in its entirety. "Here was a glorious possibility! He could almost not go wrong. Buy a camera and please take pictures." The magic of this possibility lay ahead for Anderson and spelled out the beginning of a lifetime in the creative arts. These are quite simply the photographs that one can look back on and say, "And well, the rest is history."
Kicking Sawdust comes to us from Daylight Books, a publisher of photobooks of the highest order. Quite typical of them is a well-crafted photographic object worth treasuring, with always impeccable printing and binding. This is a historical and insightful look behind the curtain at life and its community, undercover and in front of an audience, that beckons the viewer into its world of entertainment. Pick it up if you get the chance.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Kicking Sawdust: Running Away with the Circus and Carnival by Clayton Anderson
Daylight Books, 2020
10 x 8 Inches
75 Black and White Photographs
128 pages
Paper Over Board
Photographs by Clayton Anderson
Foreword by Jack Pierson
Contributions by Katharine Kavanagh
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Clayton Anderson is a photographer and advertising art director who lives and works in New York City. This year his circus work was shown at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts (FMoPA) in Tampa, FL. and the SE Center for Photography in Greenville, SC. In 2019, Anderson’s self-published photo book, Before the Fade, was placed in the research libraries of the Met and MoMA. Prior to the onset of the pandemic, Anderson was working on The Burlesque Project which is a documentation of the vibrant burlesque scene in New York City. An on-going project is "Anthropomorphia," a series of still lifes created during the pandemic which capture a range of emotions, explicit or implicit, in found, anthropomorphic objects. Selections from his "Anthropomorphia" series will be in a group show at the Praxis Gallery in Minneapolis opening in September titled “Making Strange." Anderson worked for and was mentored by noted photographers that include David Seidner, Josef Astor and Philip- Lorca diCorcia. Kicking Sawdust, published by Daylight, is his first monograph. Connect with Clayton on his Website and on Instagram!
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS AND PUBLISHER
Jack Pierson is an internationally exhibiting artist who has had recent solo exhibitions at the CAC Malaga, a, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin and the Aspen Art Museum.
Katharine Kavanagh has been writing about circus since 2013 when she launched The Circus Diaries—a multi-platform hub for critical discourse centered on the circus arts.
Tessa Fontaine is the author of The Electric Woman: A Memoir in Death-Defying Acts, a New York Times Editors’ Choice, finalist for the Utah Book Award, and best book of 2018 from Southern Living, Amazon Editors’, Refinery29, PopMatters, and the New York Post. Tessa spent the 2013 season performing with the last travelling circus side show, the World of Wonders.
Dominique Jando is a widely published circus and popular entertainment historian, and has performed for, founded, or served as artistic director for some of the world's most respected circus organizations in the world. He is the founder and curator of Circopedia.org, teaches at San Francisco Circus Center’s Clown Conservatory, and is the international circus consultant for Guinness World Records, Ltd.
Daylight Books is a non-profit organization dedicated to publishing art and photography books. By exploring the documentary mode along with the more conceptual concerns of fine art, Daylight's uniquely collectible publications work to revitalize the relationship between art, photography, and the world-at-large. For more information, visit www.daylightbooks.org.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Michael Kirchoff is a photographic artist, independent curator and juror, and advocate for the photographic arts. He has been a juror for Photolucida’s Critical Mass, and has reviewed portfolios for the Los Angeles Center of Photography’s Exposure Reviews and CENTER’s Review Santa Fe. Michael has been a contributing writer for Lenscratch, Light Leaked, and Don’t Take Pictures magazine. In addition, he spent ten years (2006-2016) on the Board of the American Photographic Artists in Los Angeles (APA/LA), producing artist lectures, as well as business and inspirational events for the community. Currently, he is also Editor-in-Chief at Analog Forever Magazine, Founding Editor for the online photographer interview website, Catalyst: Interviews, and a Contributing Editor for the column, Traverse, at One Twelve Publishing. Previously, Michael spent over four years as Editor at BLUR Magazine. Connect with Michael Kirchoff on his Website and Instagram!
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