Diane Arbus

Elderly couple on a park bench, N.Y.C. 1969

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About this artwork

Like many of Arbus’s portraits, such as the 'Woman with a Locket in Washington Square Park, N.Y.C. 1965', there seems to be a story behind this photograph. Perhaps this couple have heard some bad news, maybe they are quarrelling, or could they just be a bit tired and worn? The man looks gravely into the distance and the woman in her sombre black outfit seems distressed, her hands clenched tightly around her handbag. When she photographed, Arbus always sought to capture a moment or an expression that revealed something about her subjects at the time the portrait was made. She wrote that the act of photographing has "a kind of scrutiny that we’re not normally subject to. I mean that we don’t subject each other to … this scrutiny has to do with not evading facts, not evading what it really looks like."

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
    Diane Arbus (1923 - 1971) American
  • title:
    Elderly couple on a park bench, N.Y.C. 1969
  • date created:
    1969; printed after 1971
  • materials:
    Gelatin silver print on paper
  • measurements:
    36.40 x 37.60 cm (framed: 61.80 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:
    AR00554
  • gallery:
This artwork is part of Artist Rooms
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Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus