Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park - Diane ArbusDuring the past few months I've been taking a class at the International Center for Photography. The class, Photographing the Social Landscape, has really opened my eyes to a lot of opportunities while roaming the city streets and I really love it. Last night the instructor, Karen Marshall, gave a small presentation on some of the most amazing photographers I've ever been introduced to. One of which, was Diane Arbus. While I have seen the image above several times before, I never knew who took it or the back story that went with it. I had always assumed that the child was disturbed (aren't most children?). According to Wikipedia (sorry, but I do rely on the big "W") Diane Arbus took the image above in 1962. It was one of a small series of photos. The boy, was not deranged and the facial expression and contorted pose came from the boy's frustration with her taking so long to take his picture. You can view her contact sheet here. Pretty inspiring.
2 comments:
Wow, that's a really great image. I hadn't seen it before. What conflicting images (young innocent boy + hand grenade) and what a bizarre but perfect fit for them together. I love Diane Arbus.
Yeah, I love the entire image. The two legs and the two trees. The out of focus person in the background, right behind him... so much going on. Let alone the facial expression and pose by themselves which are excellent.
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