Smoke Filled Mirror: Photographer Keiran Perry Captures Life in a Travelling Circus

Did you ever dream of running away to join the circus? For most of us, this idea remains a fleeting daydream or a cheeky retort during family squabbles. But when the lockdown lifted, while many flocked to sunny beaches, photographer Keiran Perry found himself on a far more magical adventure—travelling through the rainy towns of northern England and Scotland with a circus.

Adventure had always been in Keiran’s blood. As a teenager, he spent his free time kayaking, caving, and climbing, while earning extra cash as a gravedigger. When it was time to choose a university, his mum suggested a Wildlife Photography degree in Blackpool.

“I didn’t actually have any photographs to show, just a bunch of drawings,” Keiran admits. He and his dad packed the car and drove from Burnley to Blackpool a week before the course began for an impromptu interview. Despite his lack of photography experience, the tutor saw something in him and offered him a spot. But there was one problem—he didn’t have anywhere to live.

“I walked out of the college after my interview and saw a house across the street with lots of students coming and going. The landlord happened to be there, and he had one room left. That was that! I’ve never been home since!”

Keiran quickly discovered his mum was right—he loved photography. “I began to study the world in a different way. The lens brought me up close and connected me to nature.”

Keiran turned his lens toward Blackpool’s nocturnal wildlife—the people—capturing the connection between humans and their fellow animals.

But Blackpool wasn’t exactly a wildlife haven. “There just wasn’t tons of wildlife in Blackpool, maybe some seagulls and a squirrel,” he laughs. Instead, Keiran turned his lens toward Blackpool’s nocturnal wildlife—the people—capturing the connection between humans and their fellow animals.

After university, he moved to London and established himself as a commercial photographer. By the time lockdown hit, Keiran was shooting high-profile advertising campaigns for brands like Deliveroo and the Premier League. “I’m very thankful for all of that, but I felt something was missing. I think I lost that personal connection with my photography.”

As the world reopened, Keiran felt an urge to do something different. “After lockdown, when people began to go back to work, something was saying that maybe I shouldn’t go straight back.”

He built a shed in his garden and moved into it, renting out his house to gain financial freedom. From the shed, he transitioned to living in a van. That’s when he heard about a circus stranded in Morecambe due to the lockdown.

On a rainy night, Keiran drove to Morecambe Promenade. “It was pitch black with rain coming in off the sea sideways. As I approached, a huge dog padded out of the shadows of the tent. On the floor was a wet hot dog, and it swallowed it whole—I thought, ‘Oh no! I’m next!’”

The dog, named Star, turned out to be more interested in the half-eaten sausage roll Keiran had in his pocket. After handing it over, Star led him to a nearby caravan, where a woman called out, “Don’t mind, Star. She’s harmless. Come and say hello.”

“There was this incredible sense of joy and camaraderie—a ragtag family all in it together.”

The woman, Julia, was the daughter of the circus owner. After learning about Keiran’s photography, she introduced him to the rest of the circus family—an eclectic group of performers from around the world, including Russia, Ukraine, Central and South America, and Poland.

“The circus was like a living, breathing animal that needed constant care,” Keiran recalls. “A guy on the trapeze at night might be cooking sausages in the morning. The person riding a motorbike in the globe of death might also be fixing one of the lorries. Everyone mucked in. You couldn’t just sit in your caravan because you were the star of the show. There was this incredible sense of joy and camaraderie—a ragtag family all in it together.”

But life in the circus wasn’t easy. “Don’t get me wrong, this was a hard way of life. It’s nonstop. Seven days a week, pure graft. I’d help out and feel bad going to bed because they’d still be up welding something or fixing the tent. It was relentless. But in that hardship, really strong bonds were made, and that created a sense of family.”

Keiran’s first photograph at the circus was of dancer and choreographer Valeria. “She came bursting out of a caravan in the morning because the water had been cut off. She was running around in just some trackies and a vest. I was just there with my camera, and she just stopped for a moment, and I got this shot of her and Star.”

While the performances were spectacular, Keiran was more drawn to behind-the-scenes. “I found a lot of magic in that in the way of life.”

During the war in Ukraine, Valeria’s mother and grandmother came to the UK to live with her. Along with Valeria’s baby, Keiran captured four generations of women sitting together in the caravan. “Valeria’s grandma kitted this circus caravan out with lots of different plants and flowers. They’re often in a battered car park in industrial areas of towns. It was just a beautiful little sanctuary amidst the madness. They make it home wherever they are.”

The circus reminded Keiran of his own unconventional upbringing in Colne. “I was one of six, and my mum was a bit of an anarchist, with a skinhead and an anarchy tattoo, but really she was a hippie. Our house was like an open-door commune. Next door was similar, so we joined together as one big family. There wasn’t much money, but we all mucked in and made do.”

The communal spirit of the circus brought him back to those roots. “Living and working in London, you shelve a lot of pieces that make up who you are. Through the circus, I reconnected with freedom, creativity, presence, family, and community.”

The result of Keiran’s time with the circus is a collection of intimate photographs capturing its magic and relentless work. But the project also marked the beginning of a personal awakening. After leaving the circus, Keiran spent nine months in the Scottish Highlands, immersing himself in an off-grid community.

“She said, ‘Now’s the time.’”

“I went up there with the idea I’d stay for a week or two and get some great photos, but I ended up staying for nine months. It’s been a huge part of my life.”

Keiran worked in the gardens, grew vegetables, and only took photos of people when the time felt right. “Craig, one of the elders, kept saying, ‘Now isn’t the time.’”

On the day Keiran was leaving, Craig’s daughter Tara called him. “She said, ‘Now’s the time.’ I had one frame left on the film. Craig sat in front of me, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes. It was calm and meditative. Then he opened his eyes, and they were piercing blue. He looked straight through the camera, and I just got it. That was it. I didn’t take any more.”

SMOKE FILLED MIRROR BY KEIRAN PERRY is out now and is available from Pendle Press.

Keiran’s next project, a deeply personal exploration of life in the Scottish Highlands, promises to capture the same intimacy and magic that made his circus photography so compelling. It will be available soon from the same publisher.

NorthernLife March/April/May 2025