Work-Horses of the Ringling Brothers Circus

Work-Horses of the Ringling Brothers Circus

In this photograph, there is interesting focus on the non-spectacular of the circus—there are no large crowds, the tents are in the background, and no performers are presenter. What is spectacular is simply the sheer number of horses in comparison to the background. The panorama achieves this by showing the viewer the immensity of empty land the relatively normal town. Spencer expands the normal, human scale view and yet still dwarfs everything with the work-horses. One can see the temporal nature of the circus—the circus tents, clearly made of cloth, seem to disappear behind the sheer mass of the animals in front of them. He shifts the focus of the spectacle to the power of it, showing the magnitude of just one portion of the laboring population—horses. One can see, almost in motion, just how a circus would sweep through a town, the stable power, the temporary structures--one dwarfing the other, but both giants in front of the town itself.

Added by Ben Kaplow

Spencer, Kennet

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Archive

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Archive

1914

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2007661899/