Cleveland Museum of Art

The Hold-Up

Date

1880s

Medium

tintype, whole plate

Culture

American, 19th century

Department

Photography

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Since the beginning of photography, objects and people have been purposefully arranged, or staged, for the camera. Popular in the late 1860s and 1870s, tintypes offered low prices and shortened exposure times. Perhaps because tintypists commonly worked at fairs and carnivals, frivolous images, such as this staged hold-up, became common. In these fictional scenes, all the participants were in on the joke. Some such scenes may be novelties, others may be gag portraits commissioned by groups of friends.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.