Cleveland Museum of Art

Young Man in Athletic Outfit

Oliver H. Willard

Date: c.1857
Medium: salted paper print from wet collodion negative
Culture: America
Department: Photography
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art

During this era, people played recreational sports in attire resembling street clothes; this man’s outfit suggests that he was an acrobat or circus performer. It was common in the 19th century to photograph workers with the tools of their trade or in apparel unique to their profession. Photography collectors later labeled that type of photograph as an “occupational.”

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