Untitled (Chair in the snow, Manhattan Valley, New York)

Frank Espada, Untitled (Chair in the snow, Manhattan Valley, New York), 1981, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, 2015.22.13, © 1981, Frank Espada Photography
Copied Frank Espada, Untitled (Chair in the snow, Manhattan Valley, New York), 1981, gelatin silver print, image: 13 1⁄8 × 19 5⁄8 in. (33.3 × 49.8 cm) sheet: 15 7⁄8 × 20 in. (40.3 × 50.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, 2015.22.13, © 1981, Frank Espada Photography

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled (Chair in the snow, Manhattan Valley, New York)
Artist
Date
1981
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
image: 13 1⁄8 × 19 5⁄8 in. (33.3 × 49.8 cm) sheet: 15 7⁄8 × 20 in. (40.3 × 50.8 cm)
Copyright
© 1981, Frank Espada Photography
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center
Mediums Description
gelatin silver print
Classifications
Subjects
  • Cityscape — New York — New City
  • Architecture Exterior
  • Object — furniture — chair
  • Cityscape — weather — snow
  • Cityscape — season — winter
Object Number
2015.22.13
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2015.22.13

Artwork Description

An armchair, typically an object of domestic comfort and warmth, is cast off onto a cold and barren lot. Frank Espada's poetic photograph sheds light on a difficult chapter in New York history. It was taken in a neighborhood where arson for profit had destroyed buildings and displaced residents.

Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography, 2017
Description in Spanish

Un sillón, que suele ser un objeto de comodidad y calor doméstico es desechado en un lote frío y árido. La poética fotografía de Frank Espada revela un capítulo difícil de la historia de Nueva York. La imagen fue tomada en un vecindario donde los incendios provocados con fines de lucro destruyeron edificios y desplazaron a los residentes.

Por estas calles bravas: Comunidad y lugar en la fotografía urbana, 2017

Exhibitions

Photograph of children playing in the water from a fire hydrant by Hiram Maristany
Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography
May 11, 2017–August 5, 2017
Smithsonian American Art Museum
America’s urban streets have long inspired documentary photographers. After World War II, populations shifted from the city to the suburbs and newly built highways cut through thriving neighborhoods, leaving isolated pockets within major urban centers.