Figure 3

Citation

Mathew Brady. “Family of albino performers.” circa 1865. Greg French Collection. Mirror of Race, 25 Jan. 2021, mirrorofrace.bc.edu/items/show/120. Accessed 18 May 2024.

Title

Family of albino performers

Subject

Family of albino performers

Creator

Mathew Brady

Date

circa 1865

Type

Studio Portrait

Identifier

Figure 3

Rights Holder

Greg French Collection

Original Format

Carte de visite, albumen print

Factual Commentary

This family of albinos were performers in a circus such as the one created by P. T. Barnum. The man might be Charles Gohren, who can be seen in Figure 2 in this slideshow. Note the strange ?wild man? costume he is wearing, including an animal skin skirt. This, together with his teased hair, was meant to display him as exotic, perhaps playing on the belief that alibinos were a more primitive form of white people. For an essay on the obsession with forms of primordial whiteness, see the essay <a href=?http://mirrorofrace.org/circassian/? target=?_blank?> ?A Freakish Whiteness: The Circassian Lady and the Caucasian Fantasy?</a> on this site.