Photograph of five male performers with drums: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A silver gelatin print depicting a black-and-white image of a group of five (5) male performers. The men are posed around a large drum, placed in the lower right quadrant of the image. All of the performers are depicted shirtless. One (1) man is seated cross-legged with a drum held between his knees to the left of the drum. His proper right hand is poised above the drum head and his proper left is resting on the drum. He is wearing a metallic costume that leaves his legs bare. Behind the seated man are two (2) performers. The man on the left has his arms extended above his head, bent at the elbows. The man on the right, kneels in front of a drum with his proper left side facing the viewer. His proper left hand holds the drum and the proper right arm is extended above his head. Behind the large drum, on the right side of the image, is a man kneeling with his proper right hand poised above the drumhead. His proper left hand is extended above his head, bent at the elbow. His hand is held below another performer's hand. That performer is standing behind the large drum. He is depicted wearing white pants with metallic detailing on the proper left side of the front of his pants. His proper left arm is raised to shoulder level and bent at the elbow so his proper left hand is held above a performer's hand. His proper right arm is extended above this head. The background is white wall with large shadows of the performers playing on the wall. In the lower right corner, printed in the negative, is the photographer's mark, [Diaz & / Rogers /N.Y.]. There are no inscriptions on the back of the photograph.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: early 20th-mid 20th century
• Photograph by: Diaz & Rogers, American
• Subject of: Unidentified Man or Men
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 7 3/8 × 9 5/16 in. (18.8 × 23.6 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 8 1/8 × 10 in. (20.6 × 25.4 cm)
• Place made: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Music
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Stereotypes
• Topic: Theatre
• Object number: 2013.46.25.56
• 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.