Strange costumes, acrobats and creepy clowns - photos of a traveling circus in 1910

At the beginning of the 20th century, traveling circuses were very rare and almost the only entertainment in small towns in Northern Ireland, and their arrival was an extremely curious and long-awaited event for local residents. Irish photographer H.F. Cooper was able to document the arrival of four traveling circuses in the period 1910-1911 in his hometown of Straban - the Canadian Hanneford Circus, Scott Circus, Duffy Circus and the American Buffalo Bill Show.

Cooper photographed the artists not in formal suits and with professional smiles, but during rehearsals that took place on the street in front of an astonished audience.