Circus Performers’ Rehearsal (Artistenprobe)

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.”