Lukas Berger

Lucky Irani Circus. Punjab, Pakistan 2012

Lukas Berger (b. 1989, Austria) studied photojournalism & documentary photography in Hanover, Germany and is currently based there. His photographic work brought him to places like Pakistan, Burkina Faso, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia and many European countries. The project Circus was published as a book by the German publisher Kettler and at TIME Lightbox. Lukas is co-founder of the art space/gallery BOHAI in Hanover.

About the Photograph:

“These are the clowns Mohammed & Tareq. When I tell the story about those two I always talk about good cop and bad cop. I had lived in Pakistan for almost one and a half years when I came across the Lucky Irani Circus. It fascinated me to find such a big circus in a country you mostly associate with political issues and natural desasters in daily media. The clown Tareeq, the one on the left side, enjoyed being photographed by me and showed me some of his clown tricks. Since my Urdu was good enough to communicate basic manners at that time, he told me his story how he came to the circus. As a midget it was difficult for him to stay with his family or get a usual job. So he decided to join the circus and start a new life there. Mohammed was the bad cop, he never talked much with me and often looked angry. Twice I went on stage with them to perform a number, where they beat each other up and Mohammed was very much after me. Of course, only on stage.“