Photograph of a female performer, Ginger, in costume: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A silver gelatin print depicting a black-and-white image of a female performer in costume. The woman is posed in a full-body portrait, against a white background. Her torso and upper body are in a spotlight and her legs are in mostly in shadow. She is depicted facing the viewer, looking towards the right side of the image. She is holding her hands above her head, with her wrists crossed, and the palms of her hands and fingertips touching. Her proper left leg is crossed in front of her proper right leg. She is wearing a bikini costume embellished with sequins and large, round beads. She is wearing ruffled arm warmers and a decorative headpiece with two metal chains draped over her forehead. The photographer’s mark, printed in the negative in the bottom left corner reads, [Bloom / CHICAGO]. There is an inscription in black ink on the bottom right quadrant of the image that reads, [To Tom – Maggie– / Sincerely, / Ginger]. There are no inscriptions on the back of the image.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1920-1940
• Photograph by: Bloom Photography, American
• Subject of: Unidentified Woman or Women
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 9 3/16 × 7 3/8 in. (23.4 × 18.8 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 9 15/16 × 8 1/8 in. (25.3 × 20.7 cm)
• Place made: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Theatre
• Object number: 2013.46.25.113
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.