A black and white photograph of a little person wearing clown make-up and smoking outside of a …

Untitled

Artist Bruce Davidson (American, born 1933)

Sitter Jimmy Armstrong (American, 1921 - 1984)

Date1958

Mediumgelatin silver print

DimensionsSheet: 40 × 30 inches (101.6 × 76.2 cm)
Matted: 45 × 32 inches (114.3 × 81.3 cm)

Portfolio/Series"Circus (The Dwarf)" series

Credit LineGift of an anonymous donor.

Object number2018.16.114

On View

Not on view

Copyright© Bruce Davidson. The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextDuring four weeks in 1958, Davidson hung around the Clyde Beatty Circus in the Palisades Amusement Park in New Jersey. He was immediately drawn to “little man” Jimmy Armstrong, who he first saw smoking in his clown costume outside the tent. Many of Davidson’s photographs of Armstrong reveal his loneliness and otherness amidst the performative atmosphere of the circus. While he is the subject of laughs and ridicule by others, Davidson foregrounds him as a sympathetic subject in the photographs and ultimately paints a picture of an individual with a life and human struggles outside of his routines in the big top. Text written for 'Bruce Davidson: Face to Face' on view February 4, 2022 - May 1, 2022.

Processed inArtist's studio, New York City, New York, United States of America

Photographed inPalisades Amusement Park, Cliffside Park-Fort Lee, New Jersey, United States of America

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