Diane Arbus

Two friends in the park, N.Y.C. 1965

About this artwork

When Arbus first started making photographs she would crop into the frame to find the face or the portrait within, but she soon stopped this practice. It was important to her that the photograph registered a direct encounter between photographer and subject, so from around 1965 she began printing her photographs with a broad, irregular black border, as here, as a way of drawing attention to this. Here she photographs ‘two friends’ who are dressed identically in white shirts and black trousers, and who mirror each other’s stance. Arbus was intrigued by relationships, particularly ones that seem unusual; at first glance the difference in the friends’ stature and the way that the taller man protectively leans his arm on the younger man’s shoulder means that they appear more like father and son than friends.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
    Diane Arbus (1923 - 1971) American
  • title:
    Two friends in the park, N.Y.C. 1965
  • date created:
    1965; printed after 1971
  • materials:
    Gelatin silver print on paper
  • measurements:
    38.10 x 37.20 cm (framed: 61.90 x 61.90 x 1.90 cm)
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund, 2008
  • accession number:
    AR00546
  • gallery:
This artwork is part of Artist Rooms
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Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus