Getty Museum
Girl with Polio, Rivington Street, New York
Creator
Walter RosenblumAmerican Photographer · 1919–2006
All works by this person →Walter Rosenblum has spent over sixty years making photographs that celebrate the intimacies of family, the innocence and optimism of youth, and the dignity of poor people. Early in his career, he was influenced by the work of Paul Strand and Lewis Hine, both of whom were mentors of the Photo League in New York. At the age of nineteen, Rosenblum began a longtime association with this organization,
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- 1938
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print
- Culture
- American
- Department
- Photographs
- Institution
- Getty Museum
In this image by Walter Rosenblum, a young girl with polio stands apart from the crowd, staring at the photographer. Rosenblum made this portrait along Rivington Street in New York's Lower East Side. While the girl gazes at him, all other eyes are drawn toward what appears to have been a scuffle between some boys. This scene documents the type of everyday activity with which Rosenblum would have been familiar. Rosenblum made the picture in the Lower East Side neighborhood where he grew up. This image is part of Rosenblum's photographic essay entitled "Pitt Street," which documents the daily life of residents in this community. Rosenblum undertook the project in response to an assignment by the Photo League, an association of photographers dedicated to socially conscious documentary work. The Pitt Street project forecast the direction of Rosenblum's career, which has continued to explore urban neighborhoods in the South Bronx, Harlem, and Haiti.
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