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Title
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Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C. 1962
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Creator
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Diane Arbus
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Artist ID
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73
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Description
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The photograph Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C. 1962, by Diane Arbus, shows a boy, with the left strap of his shorts hanging off his shoulder, tensely holding his long, stringy, thin arms by his side. Clenched in his right hand is a toy replica hand grenade (an Mk 2 "Pineapple"), his left hand is held in a claw-like gesture, and his facial expression is maniacal.
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Category of Media
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Photograph
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Media
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Black and White
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Accession Number
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1978.010
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Location
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display, Building: Floor: Room: Bin:
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Date Acquired
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1978
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Acquisition Method
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Purchase
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Dimensions of Work
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14.5" x 14.75"
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Frame Dimensions
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24.25" x 20.25"
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Frame Type
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Steel
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Donor ID
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131
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Artist Bio
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Diane Arbus (March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971) was an American photographer and writer noted for photographs of marginalized people—dwarfs, giants, transgender people, nudists, circus performers—and others whose normality was perceived by the general populace as ugly or surreal. In 1972, a year after she took her own life, Arbus became the first American photographer to have photographs displayed at the Venice Biennale. Millions viewed traveling exhibitions of her work in 1972–1979. The book accompanying the exhibition, Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph, edited by Doon Arbus and Marvin Israel and first published in 1972 is the best selling photography monograph ever, still being reprinted today. Between 2003 and 2006, Arbus and her work were the subjects of another major traveling exhibition, Diane Arbus Revelations. In 2006, the motion picture Fur, starring Nicole Kidman as Arbus, presented a fictional version of her life story. -Source: Wikipidea
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Abstract
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The contact sheet is "revealing with regards to Arbus' working method. She engages with the boy while moving around him, saying she was trying to find the right angle. The sequence of shots she took depicts a really quite ordinary boy who just shows off for the camera. However, the published single image belies this by concentrating on a freakish posture - an editorial choice typical for Arbus who would invariably pick the most expressive image, thereby frequently suggesting an extreme situation." The boy in the photograph is Colin Wood, son of tennis player Sidney Wood.
Wood does not specifically remember Arbus taking the photo, but that he was likely "imitating a face I'd seen in war movies, which I loved watching at the time." Later, as a teenager, he was angry at Arbus for "making fun of a skinny kid with a sailor suit", though he enjoys the photograph now.
"She catches me in a moment of exasperation," said Wood. "It's true, I was exasperated. My parents had divorced and there was a general feeling of loneliness, a sense of being abandoned. I was just exploding. She saw that and it's like...commiseration. She captured the loneliness of everyone. It's all people who want to connect but don't know how to connect. And I think that's how she felt about herself. She felt damaged and she hoped that by wallowing in that feeling, through photography, she could transcend herself."
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_with_Toy_Hand_Grenade_in_Central_Park
