Emily Fleck is creating Circus archives
sharing the stories of the people and animals of the circus
5
$7.50
Milestone Goals
My portfolio and website pays for itself!
I subscribe to Zenfolio, which is a badass portfolio site. Through it, I'm able to offer easy high-res downloads of my circus pictures that you all enjoy. If my patrons can together give $20 per month for a year, that will cover the cost of my DNS, SaaS, and host of other alphabet soup stuff! Awesome!
Welcome to digital, Emily (for real this time)
If I meet my initial goal, I will purchase an Adobe Creative Cloud account and teach myself how to use Lightroom through books and tutorials. I've only recently really started doing post-shoot editing because I learned how to make pictures on film cameras. Help me (finally) get caught up with the 21st century!
Back-up equipment
This modest goal will allow me to purchase an extra battery and data card for my camera. I frequently have to quit shooting before the closing act because I've run out of space or juice, and I'd love to be able to swap them out at intermission.
Better photos through better glass
After a few months of being at this level, I will purchase a professional-quality zoom lens that will allow me to take even better pictures of the show. I have my eye on a refurbished Canon EF 35-350mm f/3.5-5.6L USM. Ooh it is exciting just thinking about it!
About
I maintain a perpetual visual archive of circus life called Golden Circus Days. It's full of portraits, stories, travel anecdotes, show candids, and more from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's Gold Show. Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Ringling, just announced it will be closing this show at the end of October 2015. Please help me create and maintain this important piece of American heritage before it goes away.
After the Gold Show closes, I hope to continue to visit other Ringling shows and various American (and possibly international) circuses to record their stories as well. Thank you so much for your support.
After the Gold Show closes, I hope to continue to visit other Ringling shows and various American (and possibly international) circuses to record their stories as well. Thank you so much for your support.
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Top PatronsSee all 5
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
For the past three years, I've found myself immersed in the crazy and wonderful world of the American circus. When my husband accepted a gig playing trumpet in the circus's live band, I didn't know what to expect of our new life. What I found (besides wonderful friends and an equally wonderful nomadic lifestyle in our motorhome) was inspiration that would change me.
Golden Circus Days sprung from a desire to take formal portraits of my husband’s colleagues and co-workers on Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s smallest circus, the Gold Unit. I envisioned some really great black and white portraits and a couple words about the person, probably just shared on Facebook or something. But the more I thought about it, the more involved I wanted to get — so many people had incredible stories. Some of them had circus-performing family members going back multiple generations. Many of them came to the United States from elsewhere around the world to perform, and some of them stayed on as crew after their performing contracts ended. All of them had hilarious/unbelievable/terrifying/interesting tales from living on the road, whether train or motorhome or bus.
Too many good stories to not share, and I especially wanted to focus on the crew. I’m known for posting many (many) pictures of performers on social media, and I wanted to show the invisible cogs in the wheel some love.
The two recent bombshells dropped by Feld Entertainment (no more elephants by 2018 and the closing of the Gold Unit in October 2015) should have doused this project with a bucket of icy-cold water. But it hasn’t. It’s only lit the proverbial fire under my ass. There’s still time to share the stories of the Gold Unit before it closes, and I am hopeful that I’ll find a way to visit other circuses after October and share even more stories and pictures there, too.
Thank you so much for providing the financial support necessary for me to make this archive possible.
Golden Circus Days sprung from a desire to take formal portraits of my husband’s colleagues and co-workers on Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s smallest circus, the Gold Unit. I envisioned some really great black and white portraits and a couple words about the person, probably just shared on Facebook or something. But the more I thought about it, the more involved I wanted to get — so many people had incredible stories. Some of them had circus-performing family members going back multiple generations. Many of them came to the United States from elsewhere around the world to perform, and some of them stayed on as crew after their performing contracts ended. All of them had hilarious/unbelievable/terrifying/interesting tales from living on the road, whether train or motorhome or bus.
Too many good stories to not share, and I especially wanted to focus on the crew. I’m known for posting many (many) pictures of performers on social media, and I wanted to show the invisible cogs in the wheel some love.
The two recent bombshells dropped by Feld Entertainment (no more elephants by 2018 and the closing of the Gold Unit in October 2015) should have doused this project with a bucket of icy-cold water. But it hasn’t. It’s only lit the proverbial fire under my ass. There’s still time to share the stories of the Gold Unit before it closes, and I am hopeful that I’ll find a way to visit other circuses after October and share even more stories and pictures there, too.
Thank you so much for providing the financial support necessary for me to make this archive possible.