Giffords Circus’s show is touring the UK. Established in 2000, Giffords Circus is a small circus company that delivers circus / theatre fusion to the villages and market towns of the south west. It combines dance, comedy, horses and live music in a two-hour show, located on village greens in a small white tent surrounded by handmade burgundy and gold showman’s wagons. Photographer Tom Pilston goes behind the scenes to meet the performers. Here: The incredible, gravity-defying Konjowoch Troupe. (Photo by Tom Pilston/The Guardian)

A small meadow pipit (left) is run off her feet as she tries to keep up with the demanding feeding schedule of an imposter - a larger cuckoo (right) on the Isle of Mull, Scotland in August 2022. (Photo by Graeme Cuerden/Solent News & Photo Agency)

British puffin mid-flight with a beak full of small fish, their favourite foods being sand eels, herring and hake in Farne Islands, United Kingdom in June 2022. These pint-sized creatures are just 12 inches in height and have a wingspan of 25 inches. (Photo by Mathijs van Lisdonk/Media Drum Images)

A little girl seen waiting in a queue to participate in the Kumari Puja ritual in Kolkata, India on March 30, 2023. Kumari Puja is an Indian Hindu Tradition mainly celebrated during the Durga Puja / Basanti Puja / Navratri according to Hindu calendar. Kumari actually describes a young virgin girl from the age 1 to 16 who is getting worshipped during the transition of Ashtami / Navami tithi of Durga Puja / Navaratri according to Hindu mythology. (Photo by Avishek Das/SOPA Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Girls dressed in traditional costumes run as men throw water on them as part of Easter celebrations during a presentation to the media in Mezokovesd, Hungary, April 13, 2017. (Photo by Laszlo Balogh/Reuters)

A girl is splashed with water by boys following a Polish Wet Easter Monday tradition, in Wilamowice, Poland, Monday, April. 17, 2017. (Photo by Jarek Praszkiewicz/AP Photo)

A girl lights a candle as she marks the anniversary of 2015 Nepal earthquake, at Boudhanath stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal April 25, 2017. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A girl watches an acrobatic performance at the Longtan park as the Chinese Lunar New Year, which welcomes the Year of the Monkey, is celebrated in Beijing, China February 9, 2016. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)