In this photo are twin brothers Tulsi and Basant. They perform in the Great Famous Circus based in Calcutta, India. The photo was taken in 1989 by American photojournalist Mary Ellen Mark and it appeared in her book Exposure published in 2006 as well as in her book Indian Circus and Aperture Magazine in 1992. Her books can be viewed in part on her personal website.
Mary Ellen Mark is one of the most popular female photojournalist in America. Her photos have appeared in national publications such as LIFE, Rolling Stone, New York Times Magazine, and Vanity Fair. She received her M.A. in photojournalism at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia in 1964.
Mark is attracted to photographing people, especially those who are living on the fringes of their societies. She has photographed prostitutes, mentally ill patients, homeless people and drug addicts. She never over sentimentalizes her subjects, she simply wishes people to acknowledge the harsh lives of her subjects. She is not an artsy photographer; her best images fall somewhere between simple portraiture and news photographs. He photos demand strong eye contact between the subject and the viewer (Photojournalism 1855 to the Present).
The photograph above displays emotion as well as bizarre elements. The two men in the photo are midget twins, and they are wearing strange monkey costumes. One of the best elements of this photo is that the unmasked man’s hair matches the wavy hair of the monkey mask that is on his brother’s face beside him as well as on the mask that he holds in his hands. The viewer can also somehow tell that the subjects are twins although one is masked. The man on the right looks as if he may drop the sleeping puppy that he is holding in his awkward, fuzzy costume hands. The photo is unusual and bizarre. It shows the straight-faced emotion of the men, and it tells the story of a society’s minority and outcast, midgets, surviving only in the circus.
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