Snapshots of the Past

[Harry Houdini, full-length portrait, standing, facing front, in chains] – Vintage Photo Print

[Harry Houdini, full-length portrait, standing, facing front, in chains], [ca. 1900] — historic photograph
[Harry Houdini, full-length portrait, standing, facing front, in chains], [ca. 1900]. Historic photograph from the Astrology & Magic collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

[Harry Houdini, full-length portrait, standing, facing front, in chains] comes to life in this historic photograph, reproduced from the original with every detail intact. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.

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[Harry Houdini, full-length portrait, standing, facing front, in chains]

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Harry Houdini appears here in full length, standing square to the camera with heavy chains wrapped around his body, the kind of restraint he built his stage act around. The chains are the point of the picture: they set up the escape that was his trademark, and a crowd looking at this image would have known to expect a locked box, a river, or a jail cell to follow. Around 1900 Houdini was still building his reputation in vaudeville and dime museums, performing in the United States and Europe and turning the act of breaking free into a headline attraction. Portraits like this one helped sell that spectacle, and they still show how he styled himself as a figure of daring and control.

Created / published[ca. 1900]
Medium1 photographic print.
GenrePortrait photographs 1890-1910.Photographic prints 1890-1910.
SubjectsHoudini, Harry,--1874-1926--Performances.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan3,211 × 4,096 px · prints to 11 × 14 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-188784

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