Kite Flying on Rooftop

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Hiram Maristany, Kite Flying on Rooftop, 1964, gelatin silver print, image: 13 × 17 ⁵⁄₈ in. (33.0 × 44.8 cm) sheet: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, 2016.30.5, © 1964, Hiram Maristany

Artwork Details

Title: Kite Flying on Rooftop
Artist: Hiram Maristany
Date: 1964
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: image: 13 × 17 ⁵⁄₈ in. (33.0 × 44.8 cm) sheet: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Copyright: © 1964, Hiram Maristany
Credit Line: Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center
Mediums Description: gelatin silver print
Classifications: Photography
Subjects: Object — toy — kite
Figure male — child — full length
Recreation — sport and play — kite flying
Architecture — commercial — skyscraper
Cityscape
Object Number: 2016.30.5
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2016.30.5

Artwork Description

The rooftops of tenement buildings, often called tar beaches or playas negras, were community gathering spaces from which Maristany took many photographs. He was drawn to scenes that evoked Puerto Rican cultural traditions recreated in New York. Here he focuses on a young man flying a kite against the El Barrio skyline. While not unique to Puerto Ricans, kite making and flying was a competitive pastime that was passed on from generation to generation.

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

Las azoteas de los edificios de apartamentos, llamados con frecuencia playas negras, eran espacios de reunión de la comunidad, desde donde Maristany tomó muchas fotografías. Se interesaba por las escenas que evocaban las tradiciones culturales de Puerto Rico y eran recreadas en Nueva York. Aquí, enfoca la cámara hacia un joven que vuela una chiringa y tiene como telón de fondo el horizonte de El Barrio. Aunque no es único de los puertorriqueños, la fabricación de chiringas para luego volarlas era un pasatiempo competitivo que pasaba de una generación a otra.

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

Works by this artist (4 items)

Singleton van Buren as a Child

Artist

John Carlin

Date1844

watercolor on ivory

Mrs. James Suydam (Charlotte Heyer)

Artist

John Carlin

Date1859

watercolor on ivory

Little Girl with Doll

Artist

John Carlin

Dateca. 1854

watercolor on ivory

James Suydam

Artist

John Carlin

Date1859

watercolor on ivory

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.