‘Near the Egress’ is a phantasmagoric memory of the circus, as experienced by the aging and restless mind. The viewer shares a front row seat to the sight and sounds of marveling men, women and beasts as they perform extraordinary feats of movement in suspended time.
Originally shot on 35mm b&w photo film, each frame of the moving circus was later printed, and ultimately, processed as a dry-plate tintype which was scanned and digitally re-sequenced to make a moving-image piece about memory and reverence for the spectacle.
Near the Egress, 2008 – TRT 2:30 mins
Antonio Martinez (born 1979) is an emerging artist with deep interest in manipulating the still image. He was raised in Oklahoma, educated in Nebraska (Creighton University), North Carolina (East Carolina University) and now currently teaches photography at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He is a recent recipient of the 2009 Illinois Arts Council Fellowship for photography.
Antonio has always been intrigued with the absurdities and spectacles of life and works to produce images or videos, which represent the splendor and fear associated with his subject. Antonio defines himself as a traditional and digital image-maker whose interests include photographing spectator events, which range from mma cagefights to the traveling circus.
Antonio Martinez – Carbondale Illinois
17 Days Video Series 
I love this video! This is the best one I’ve seen in the series.
This is the sort of work I would like to be able to do eventually.
Sounds like a tremendous amount of work was involved.
It looks Cirque de Soleil gone over to the dark side. :>
I love old circus memorabilia. This is very unique and interesting. You often think of a circus being a positive, fun place to be. But here the circus is dark and ominous. Very interesting. I love how the images appear to be moving.