Circus Acrobat, New York 1936

Ilse Bing made this photograph, Circus Acrobat, New York, with gelatin silver. Bing’s high contrast captures a moment of precariousness, of being suspended in space. The lines create dynamic diagonals and triangles. The lights above feel heavy, oppressive almost. What's it like to climb so high, up into that darkness, with just a bit of spotlight for company? She steadies herself, another acrobat in the act beneath her. Is the audience holding their breath? I wonder, did Bing feel a kinship with her subject? I imagine she might have, as they both navigate their own forms of artistic expression. Bing was pushing the boundaries of photography at the time, while the acrobat was soaring through the air, defying gravity. Artists like Bing and the circus acrobat were in constant conversation with each other and their audiences, exploring the human condition through movement, light, shadow and form. Each performance adding to our collective understanding of what it means to be alive.