Diane Arbus

Girl in a watch cap, N.Y.C. 1965

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About this artwork

This photograph was taken, like many of Arbus’s portraits, in one of New York’s public parks. When Arbus first started photographing she was nervous about approaching people, so, would crop her pictures to make them look like they were taken close-up. However, by the time she took this arresting picture of a girl with a disconcerting stare, Arbus had learnt to get close to the people she photographed. Her photographs record a self-conscious encounter between the photographer and the subject. After her death her friend, Marvin Israel, said in an interview: "It could be argued that for Diane the most valuable thing wasn’t the photograph itself, the art object; it was the event, the experience … The photograph is like her trophy – it’s what she received as the reward for this adventure."

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
    Diane Arbus (1923 - 1971) American
  • title:
    Girl in a watch cap, N.Y.C. 1965
  • date created:
    1965; printed after 1971
  • materials:
    Gelatin silver print on paper
  • measurements:
    36.60 x 37.00 cm (framed: 61.80 x 61.80 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:
    AR00536
  • gallery:
This artwork is part of Artist Rooms
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Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus