‘Circus’ and ‘Fire ‘are two photographic projects London-based fire performer Aurora Galore and I have had in the pipeline for almost a year now. I love shooting with fire, but with health and safety regulations becoming much stricter in the UK after a couple of fire/angle-grinding related incidents on the club scene, you can imagine how hard it can be to find a venue that is happy to let us use their space. Luckily for us, Vibe Bar in East London were able to help us out with the use of their venue, and the decor couldn’t be more perfect!

There were several areas of the room that we could have used for the background of our shoot, but the red and cream striped walls in the far corner were the perfect background for a circus-themed shoot. Starting off in a bronze, embellished leotard and harness ensemble complete with signature ruff collar and leather belt, Aurora jumped up onto a low wooden plinth to raise herself further up the wall, making better use of the background.

Being right in the corner of the room left very little space to get lights around Aurora, which meant we’d have to get creative. We also had all the usual known issues of using flash against a semi-glossy surface! Setting up one of my Elinchrom Quadras with a 135 Octa against the adjoining wall, the direction of the soft box actually came out more toward the camera than on Aurora, casting a soft white light on one side of her figure. On the other side, we made use of one of the venue’s ceiling-mounted stage lights, casting a very soft red glow to fill in the shadows.

Once we were happy with the lighting, Aurora Galore grabbed a couple of her fire sticks ready for action. Luckily we were on form and started snapping away instantly, as we had exactly one minute and four seconds of shooting before the fire alarms (which we had double checked with management had been disabled for the room we were shooting in) went off. It doesn’t stop there either: being a quite built-up area of East London, the particular fire alarm in question is also linked to most of Brick Lane, including over one hundred local businesses, the Truman Brewery and the bowling alley. Cue several hundred irritated people being evacuated into the streets in the middle a miserable rainy day, whilst a photographer and one circus performer try their hardest to blend in and not get yelled at!

All was well in the end and we were let back in to the building after a couple of minutes, but that was the end of our fire shoot! Instead, we switched to Aurora’s circus outfit, which is another one I’ve wanted to photograph for a while. Now in its second incarnation – with a new ringmaster jacket complete with hair epaulettes – we shot a range of poses showing off the variations in the costume layers, as well as a selection of images showing off Aurora’s custom red and gold feather fans.

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