They say when you're a true Carney that it is in your blood. I suppose I fall into that category. I have been photographing the carnival and its people since 1974. When I was a little girl I worked at the carnival with my mom and grandparents. It all started with my grandmother's best friend, Lila, who married a man named Mat Wilson. He owned a few food stands (we call these grab joints). My sister and I worked for Barb, Aunt Lila's daughter, during the summer when we were old enough to count and return change. It was a good way to make some extra cash during the summer, and it sure beat working on the farm down the road, picking strawberries in the hot sun for 25 cents a quart.
When my sister and I got older, my sister bought a small ice cream stand called Chocolate Nut Sundae. The Sundae was a square piece of ice cream stuck on a double-headed cone. The ice cream was then dipped in chocolate and quickly dipped in nuts before the chocolate hardened. I would dream of hearing myself call out the bally call, "Get your Chocolate Nut Sundae here! Dipped in chocolate and rolled in nuts, it's yummy in your tummy." I bought my sister's Chocolate Nut Sundae stand in the mid-1970s and traveled long enough to help support myself through college. After I graduated, I left the business and opened a commercial photography studio.
My sister stayed in the business. Now, she and her husband own a large amusement company of approximately sixty rides. I am still involved with the business in one way or another, even if that means just visiting my sister on the lot.
That charismatic quality about the carnival lifestyle is captured in my still images and reveals how the carnival industry has changed over the years. My images capture the movement and colors of the lights that animate and adorn the rides, food stands, and games. My portraits allow the viewer an inside look, a behind-the-scenes peek at this most interesting lifestyle and its people.
Although I don't travel full time any longer, I still have deep connections to the life and the people. My sister and brother-in-law own a large traveling amusement company that travels up and down the East coast during a seven-month season on the road. Having an intimate relationship with the people who travel has allowed me entrance into this otherwise private world. The title of my book of carnival images is “Behind The Colored Lights,” as the book reveals the underbelly of the life and times of the carnival industry and how it has changed over the past thirty-four years. My images are similar to the work of Diane Arbus and Lewis Hine. There is a gritty reality to our images that places people in their environments and tells a story about life and time. I have created these images with deliberate subject placement and framing and in a visual storytelling style.
These images are displayed in sizes from 24” x 37” to 13” x 19”. They have been shot using a variety of cameras and films, as well as digital. I have used a Rolleiflex 2.25, a Hasselblad 2.25, a Cannon Ftb, a Nikon F2, and an S2Pro. My choice of lenses ranged from short to normal depending on need.
