The Circus Children

On May 28, 2008, Nepal entered a new era as the world's youngest republic. While hopes of peace, social inclusion, and prosperity abound, Nepal's history of civil war remains a dark legacy to be reckoned with. Vestiges of the decade-long People's War (1996-2006) are immediately apparent in Nepal's widespread poverty, in Nepal's persisting political uncertainties and social problems, and in Nepal's children. Children in Nepal are one of the most vulnerable groups in the world to human trafficking, as children and teenage girls in the thousands are sold to forced labor and prostitution each year.

As the country seeks to rehabilitate and rebuild itself, so too do the children who have been rescued from Indian circuses and granted refuge by the Esther Benjamins Trust. This series is about lost childhoods, second chances, and the uneasy co-existence of the past and present, oppression and freedom. I sought to capture the striking personalities and presence of my young subjects and to evoke their transition from a history of abuse and neglect to a possibly better, brighter future. Every portrait gives rise to tension and irony: a boy no more than 8 years of age stands with the swagger of a young James Dean, a slight frown offsets the prettiness of a pink kurta and sash, narrowed eyes lend ambivalence to a smiling face, and an unsmiling seven-year-old stands staring through expertly lined eyes. Shy yet precocious, guarded yet hopeful, they are children of the new republic.

Kathmandu, Nepal, 2008