Girl Learning to Skate (Livonia Avenue, East New York)
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
Growing up on the urban terrain of concrete sidewalks, Brooklyn children and teenagers have long embraced skating as a pastime. In 1950 N. Jay Jaffee photographed a young skater as she extended her arm out to gain balance independent of her father’s hold. Vincent Cianni’s 1995 image captures a graceful moment of a teenage boy midair.
The backgrounds of these images reveal changing textures of the neighborhood landscapes: felt hats with fur trim and arched glass storefront windows in the former, and baggy T-shirts and graffiti scrawled along a block in the latter. Although taken forty-five years apart, these photographs display skating as a communal and enjoyed act for Brooklyn youth.
Caption
N. Jay Jaffee American, 1921–1999. Girl Learning to Skate (Livonia Avenue, East New York), 1950; printed 1995. Selenium-toned gelatin silver print, image: 6 x 5 in. (15.2 x 12.7 cm) sheet: 9 15/16 x 7 15/16 in. (25.2 x 20.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Paula W. Hackeling, 1997.164.20. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1997.164.20_bw.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Girl Learning to Skate (Livonia Avenue, East New York)
Date
1950; printed 1995
Geography
Place made: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Medium
Selenium-toned gelatin silver print
Classification
Dimensions
image: 6 x 5 in. (15.2 x 12.7 cm) sheet: 9 15/16 x 7 15/16 in. (25.2 x 20.2 cm)
Signatures
Signed in ink on lower right of verso: "N. Jay Jaffee"
Inscriptions
Inscribed in graphite on verso: [sequential numbering of portfolio]
Credit Line
Gift of Paula W. Hackeling
Accession Number
1997.164.20
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
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