Big Kid Circus

Julie Pinington Wright

In the midst of the pandemic I undertook a socially engaged photography project with the Big Kid Circus, who had been stranded in Morecambe since the start of lockdown. The circus performers are from all over the world, they had been turned away by their own governments during this time, receiving no financial support, the isolated artists tell me that had it not been for the kindness and generosity of the community of Morecambe Bay, they would have starved.

Documenting their everyday lives during this extraordinary global moment, I have tried to amplify their pleas for support during a time when they were unable to perform, tour or travel and with no recourse to public funds. Living in my campervan over the course of a month, I moved in with the circus to get a true perspective of the circus communities lived experience.

A visual communication is significant within Julie Pinington Wright's practice, a message must be delivered to the viewer which invites them to take action against the social and political concerns exposed within her images. She aims for her photographs to document a profound reality, whilst revealing the veracity of injustice and inequality within human struggle. It is Wright's intention to use photography to challenge the viewers way of thinking, with the understanding that her photographs alone cannot change the world but may provide a platform for change within it.