Diane Arbus

A young man and his pregnant wife in Washington Square Park, N.Y.C. 1965

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About this artwork

This couple would have had to learn to live with people staring at them in the street – in the 1960s a relationship between a black man and a white woman would have been shocking. Here Arbus searches out another subject whose choices in life – and here, in love – mean that they are marginalised in society. Unlike the looks of passers-by, there is no disapproval in the way that Arbus uses her trademark direct approach to photograph this couple. In the caption Arbus identifies the young woman as ‘Pregnant Wife’ and with this extra information the viewer looks in their expressions for the anxiety they may have felt as they prepared to start a family in difficult circumstances.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
    Diane Arbus (1923 - 1971) American
  • title:
    A young man and his pregnant wife in Washington Square Park, N.Y.C. 1965
  • date created:
    1965; printed after 1971
  • materials:
    Gelatin silver print on paper
  • measurements:
    37.50 x 38.10 cm (framed: 61.80 x 61.80 x 1.80 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:
    AR00537
  • gallery:
This artwork is part of Artist Rooms
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Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus