BEYOND COLORS
 by Pablo Wünsch Blanco

Limited Edition - 500 Exp - 216 Pages - 260x260mm
Published by 
Isaac Dreyfus-Bernheim Stiftung
YOUNG STAGE Basel
Offset Print by
Offsetdruckerei Karl Grammlich GmbH 
---

How to get a copy of BEYOND COLORS

Order directly at Bider & Tanner Online Shop
or
Contact Pablo Wünsch Blanco and let him know
Foto: Pirmin Balmer/Live Mountain
(Extract from the book)
THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTOS
ALL BECAUSE OF A CUP OF COFFEE 

Eighteen years ago, Nadja’s workplace and my photo studio shared the same building. One late winter day, over a cup of coffee in the common backyard where we often met, she told me about her “small” circus festival project and politely asked me for help. International.
Youth. Non-profit. Circus?
My brain lit up with curiosity. I was sold on the spot. I had, at the time, absolutely zero knowledge about circus and never documented any stage performance of any kind. Obviously, I agreed to help. My duty would be to photograph the performances and the awards ceremony for the press and to create some inspiring images to use in future festival promotions. In return, acting on a spontaneous premonition, I asked her to allow me to exclusively document the backstage life of the event at my will. 
Contemporary circus, that is how the ones in the know referred to this new world, felt strange and quite foreign to me. Like being at the convergence of three strong tributary rivers. Sport, dance, and theater. All equally powerful, joining together and creating an even stronger current. I was clueless, and it was fascinating.
As I had anticipated, there were two sides to the festival. One being the short-lived performances in front of the paying public, and the second, a great universe of unseen, anonymous life around it. From day one, I made the decision to portray them in two very distinct ways, and from then on, whenever I was taking photos at the festival, my photographic brain worked on two separate channels, with clearly defined styles and concepts. To this day. 
While photographing the performances from the front of the house, I focused on being extremely neutral and dedicated all my energy to generating the most faithful representations of the action on stage. These images, which for years have adorned our streetcars, plastered the city with festival posters, and graced newspapers, websites, catalogs, and social media, have always been the result of an attempt to capture the show with transparency and reflect what the audience sees. They have been always produced in color and, for me, serve as mere proof of existence. My presence as a photographer is not meant to be perceived. Although I am often praised for them, and they are indeed the familiar faces of YOUNG STAGE, all the credit for the quality of these images should go to the performers themselves, the light and stage designers, and the rest of the members of the show production.
On the other hand, from the time I first entered that small dark circus tent at the Kaserne, a few days before the first performance in 2007, and I found myself surrounded by “circus people,” I sensed a very special atmosphere. A strange beauty and invigorating energy. To document the life backstage, I deliberately worked exclusively in black-and-white and gave myself the freedom to interpret the situations and to infuse them with my personal signature as a visual artist. 
Soon, the conversations between light and darkness, the human figure and the open space, and the geometric and minimal compositions took over and defined a language that, to my eyes, has been a quite adequate tool to underline the dedication, courage, and talent of the young circus artists. In the true essence of circus tradition, these amazing beings, the circus artists, of superhuman physical abilities, unlimited talent, and almost ridiculous passion, came to our city only once a year to perform for a very limited period before leaving again. Me, every time, on the first day of the festival, I felt like a naturalist arriving to a newly discovered island, excited to find out what wonderful new characters I would encounter. And over time, documenting them, became an extremely satisfying photographic obsession. 
Taking part in that universe beyond the colors of the stage lights and eyes of the hundreds of spectators, the life behind the curtains of YOUNG STAGE has taught me immensely about discipline, dedication, courage and resilience. It has been an invaluable life lesson. 
Being around and up close to the young people portrayed in the pages of this book is one of the most inspiring things that I have done in my life. 

Pablo Wünsch Blanco
Photographer YOUNG STAGE
A big selection of images taken over the years can be found here (2007-2023)