A Traveling Carnival

In 2005, the concept of a carnival photography series began at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Attending a street photography workshop, taught by Costa Manos, a Magnum Photographer, each participant met with the instructor to identify potential street photography projects once home. Vivid colors and open public areas were the criteria for selection. I decided on a ten-year photo series of the traveling carnival that was part of the Feast of Mount Carmel in Hammonton, New Jersey.


Carnivals are colorful in more than the pictorial sense. The carnival life and workers, “Carnies”, are characters of their own as well as the public who attend carnivals. People from all walks of life, ages, and socio-economic status attend. There are rides that thrill, games of chance, concessions, and freak shows make a perfect mix for street photography.