Water Skiing, Inland Lake, circa 1950s

Archive & AtlasEstablished · MMXXIII

Water Skiing, Inland Lake, circa 1950s — Archive & Atlas

An interpretation of depth — not a measured reconstruction

Depth is precomputed and interpretive — the scene falls back to the flat image where a browser can't render it.

Water Skiing, Inland Lake, circa 1950s — Archive & Atlas

Unattributed 1945–1960

AA-2026-C7EB7A

The Archivist

Ask about this image

Archivist

Step into the scene

Off by default. Turning it on lets the image respond to your cursor with a shallow sense of depth, rebuilt from a depth map computed when the image was catalogued. It is an interpretation for looking, not a measured 3D model — and it falls back to the flat image where the browser can't render it.

On the image

A shirtless man in yellow swim trunks executes a neat water ski across what appears to be an inland lake lined with summer cottages, towed by a rope visible in the frame and anchored to a boat somewhere off-camera. The water is calm and the sky clear—ideal conditions for the kind of recreational sport that had become standard summer entertainment for middle-class Americans by mid-century, requiring enough disposable income for a boat, fuel, and the leisure time to spend a Saturday afternoon being dragged across a lake for no productive purpose whatsoever. The cottages visible across the water suggest this is a resort or cottage community, the kind of place where families rented for a week and parents could relax while their children learned that velocity and water resistance were entertainment. The skier is perfectly balanced, suggesting either competence or the photographer's lucky timing, which in an era before action cameras were ubiquitous meant someone with a still camera had to guess when to shoot and hope the subject wasn't mid-collapse.

From the community

Identifications, corrections, and discussion from readers — reviewed by a librarian before appearing here.

No notes yet — be the first to add what you know about this image.

Visually related — by likeness

Two Water-Skiers Behind a Motorboat, American Lake, 1950s

1950–1959

Water-Skiing on an Inland Lake, United States, 1950s

1950–1959

Water-Skier on a Lake, United States, 1950s

1950–1959

Water Skiers in Tow, 1950s Great Lakes

1950–1959

Couples Water-Skiing on an American Lake, 1950s

1950–1959

Swimmers in Towed Rope Line, Lake or Sound, 1950s

1945–1965

Water Skier on Single Ski, American Lake, 1950s

1950–1959

Motorboat Bow Spray, Great Lakes, 1940s

1940–1950

Water-Skiing Couple Under Concrete Arch Bridge, American Lake, 1950s

1950–1959

Woman Aquaplaning on Towed Disc, Woodland Lake, 1950s

1950–1959

Swimmers at River Beach, ca. 1950s

1945–1965

Atoll at Horizon, Pacific, 1940s-1950s

1940–1955