MISCELLANY

King and Queen of A Senior Citizens Dance, N.Y.C., 1970
Photograph by Diane Arbus (1923-1971)
Spencer Museum of Art

Diane Arbus photographed ordinary people, usually
unposed, but always in their own habitual surroundings.
In any case, whether or not they were self-conscious
when the camera was aimed in their direction, they seemed to have no idea that they had been caught thinking of themselves as being quite photogenic and admirable, when actually they were revealing how very out-of-place or otherwise out of touch with reality they were -- as just about all of us often are, but we don't realize it, either (and thank goodness Diane Arbus isn't out taking pictures of us). The reason this photograph is linked to from this site is that it shows some elderly people who are being treated like children, and they are letting themselves be treated like children but obviously there is something "wrong" here...The resulting photograph impresses one as extremely bizarre and unsettling.