Anna Mae the Elephant with Her Performing Partner, Margo Porter, UniverSoul Circus, Brooklyn, New York, USA, 2003
(catalog number 238T-041-010)

PHOTOGRAPHING the circus is one of my passions. I had always wanted to photograph the UniverSoul Circus, the only African American-owned circus in the world. In the spring of 2003, I suggested this story to Elisabeth Biondi and David Remnick at the New Yorker.

I made portraits of all the different characters, both human and animal. Rocky the kangaroo was one of my favorites, but unfortunately I didn't get a great picture of him. He had his boxing gloves on and madly hopped around with his eyes focused on me. I was intimidated. Kangaroos are very unpredictable and very powerful.

When Anna Mae the elephant walked into the ring, we made immediate eye contact. She looked at me and seemed to say, "Who are you? Are you important enough to take my picture? Are you going to give me a sugared doughnut?" I had heard that she expected doughnuts as payment each time she performed. I had worked with elephants before. They are intelligent and extremely sensitive. I took several pictures of Anna Mae: one of her sitting in the middle of the ring alone, one of her picking up Margo by her leg, and this one.

I could feel Anna Mae's longing and sadness. She was 64 years old, which is quite old for an elephant in captivity. She seemed to be longing for something else. A few days after the shoot, we mailed her a case of doughnuts as a thank-you for working so hard.

Some months later, I was in Florida photographing a community of carnival workers. I told them about Anna Mae. They all knew her; it seems she is a famous elephant. They said to me, "Anna Mae is all business. If she doesn't like you, she'll pick you up and slam you against the wall. She's done that to several people." I was grateful that we had sent the doughnuts because I wouldn't want to be on her bad side in case I photographed her again. An elephant never forgets.