Piticul Samson
The Dwarf Called Samson
By its compounding elements, the photo may be ranged
within two series of photos: the series of the
streets (we are on Calea Victoriei, in the very
center of Bucharest, near Sala Palatului and
Majestic) and the series of the circus (a sub-series
of the Mosilor fair series- an outskirts element).
The image reunites the center and the eccentric, the
latter being represented by the dwarf’s figure – a
counterpart of the man on stilts. He is an inaugural
element (he announces the arrival of the circus), a
connecting element (he plays jests in between the
shows), a show element (he is an «oriental» element,
as Ionescu’s notes inform us). Therefore, this
element of the circus bursts into the daily routine,
by transgressing the limits between down town and
the outskirts.
The first transgression engenders a second one: the
dwarf may be classified within the series of the
street characters. Yet, such characters are
anonymous characters in Ionescu’s world and they can
be eventually identified based on the trade they
perform. In this case, Ionescu’s text helps us to
identify the character: the dwarf called Samson. We
see that one observes the convention pendant to the
circus series, where all the characters are
individualized (in the changing room, before the
show or while performing).
The abrupt down-sizing of a character of the
landscape should give the city an unreal or at least
a strange air. But nothing of this kind happens. He
passes by without being noticed. The only one whose
identity was revealed is the photographer who had to
come closer in order to focus his camera. At least
two pairs of eyes are staring at the camera.
There could be a third series of Ionescu’s work
where we could classify the dwarf: the series of
exceptional events. But his presence into this space
is not an exceptional one, if we judge by the
reactions (or rather by the lack of reaction) of the
passers by. There is though a fourth series that
might accommodate such topic. The one where the
petty things are holding control, where the
insignificant, the kitsch and the gratuitous
(doubled sometimes by the futile) are reigning: the
jackanapes, the hand mill, the «art» objects traded
at the Mosi Fair or on Dimbovita’s quay…
