For over 40 years, the Julinek school in Poland was where aspiring clowns went to train.
Located 18 miles from Warsaw in the middle of Kampinoski National Park, it was home to a community of 1,500 teachers, artists, technicians, clowns, gymnasts and jugglers.
It has been closed for over a decade and most of its former inhabitants are now retired.
Photographer Rafal Milach recently captured poignant portraits of the retired Polish clowns in their homes and at the former school for his series ‘Disappearing Circus.’
A sense of melancholy and sadness pervades the images–dressed in their old costumes, they appear stuck in the past and unable to move on from their previous occupations.
View some photos below and read the retirees’ stories here.
[via Neatorama and Animal NY, images via Rafal Milach]