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A work made of gelatin silver print.

Circus Performers’ Rehearsal (Artistenprobe)

1929/30

Umbo (Otto Umbehr) German, 1902–1980

Germany

The German photographer Umbo, capitalizing on the hunger for images provoked by the rise of illustrated magazines, produced this photograph to accompany an article about a circus school in Berlin. At once candid and composed, the image presents a moment behind the scenes: two sitting women with fashionable short-cropped hair, accompanied by a standing male companion who reaches forward to light a cigarette. So steady is his posture that it would be easy to miss the roller skates on his feet. The caption that accompanied the image read: “This is what a performing arts school looks like. Cold rooms—a place for precise, tiring work.”

Gelatin silver print

Photography and Media