TITLE: 'No Safety Net': ‘Messages to a Troubled World from the ‘Otherworld’ of Circus’.

The title is a metaphor for the precarious material and emotional existence lived by a small travelling circus, a unique art form and way of life that has remained unchanged for over a hundred years. A metaphor too for the vulnerability (of people) and strength (of purpose) needed to survive in a world where - on the high wire and on the road - lives and livelihoods depend - quite literally - upon a shared sense of belonging, community, and above all, mutual respect and trust.

There could be no better medium than Black and White to reflect a world at once antithetical to the beguiling and spectral World of the Big Top? No better visual metaphor for exposing its hinterland, the real World of Circus, no safety net, vulnerable, astringently stripped of its make-up.

I wanted to capture the egalitarian nature of Circus, the aesthetic and grotesque, the achingly beautiful, and the heartbreakingly sad manifestations of Circus life freed of the influence and hierarchies created by colour.

Life is not a Circus, nor can it save the World. It is neither Schindler’s Arc nor Shangri-la. But Art possesses the unique power to show us - in a single frame, the movement of the camera shutter or the stroke of a brush - both ourselves and our future and what we can achieve, as individuals and Nations, if we only grasp the opportunity to see the World a little differently, the way Circus sees it.

AUTHOR: Brian Morgan (United Kingdom)

Brian Morgan. MA.MBA.FRPS.FBIPP is a Writer, Photographer and Doctoral Researcher.

He is one of a handful of photographers to have been awarded Fellowships both with the Royal Photographic Society ( for his work with the Circus Community ) and the British Institute of Professional Photography ( for work with the Roma Gypsy Community). A joint recipient of the Royal Photographic Society’s Documentary Photographer of the Year Award 2023-25, his work recently featured as part of a UK-wide tour. He is a member of the Martin Parr Foundation and the Federation of European Photographers.


Brian’s forthcoming book ‘No Safety Net’ follows his personal journey through the trauma of losing his identical twin brother, his own diagnosis of a life-changing illness, and the role played in his attempted recovery by unlikely befrienders, a small Travelling Circus with whom he subsequently journeyed for several years.

Further similar-based books:' Searching for Appleby Fair,' a Study of Roma Gypsy Culture, and 'Who Am I? ' The Post Trauma Lives of Twin-less Twins are due for completion in late 2027. 'Blyth Diary' is a photo-visual essay featuring his local coastal community. 'Ahead of the Curve’ is a joint project exploring the issues affecting scoliosis patients. Subject-related exhibitions are planned for 2027.

A keen astronomer, humanist and lifelong conservationist, Brian actively supports the Marine Conservation Society, Friends of the Earth, and the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières. A lover of both Opera and Ballet, he provides pro bono support to both local and national arts-based projects.

His creative vision - inexorably bound not only to his professional past and Humanitarian beliefs but also a personal history tied to his experience of emotional trauma and physical disability - is forged in the belief:

'The quality of life to which everyone has an inalienable right is diminished for want of inclusion for all. But hope prevails through the power of Art, to bridge the gap between having and not having, between knowing and not knowing.'

(2027)