Michel Louis: Contortionists, Volumes I–II. Monumental Photographic History of the Contortionist’s Art

LOUIS, Michel. Contortionists. Volumes I–II. Volume I: Wuppertal, West Germany: Europa Verlag, 1983. Volume II: Sainte-Geneviève, France: Éditions Michel Poignant P.L.V., 1983. Two volumes, unpaginated. ca. 250 pp. each. Large 4to. Original blue cloth boards lettered in silver, each with a mounted black-and-white photograph on the front cover. Profusely illustrated throughout with full-page and multiple-image black-and-white photographs.

Texts in French and English.

A monumental photographic history of contortion and its practitioners, bringing together approximately two thousand images from international circus archives. Arranged geographically, the photographs document artists from Europe, the United States, Russia, China, Mongolia, and elsewhere, ranging from historical studio portraits and publicity photographs to remarkable images of performers in rehearsal, training, and live performance. Michel Louis’s accompanying texts examine the history and techniques of contortion, as well as costumes, national traditions, professional training, and the working lives of circus artists. Volume II substantially expands the photographic documentation of the first volume, drawing upon some of the finest circus negatives produced during the preceding half-century.