Lynn Hyman Butler (American, born 1953). The Girl with a Gun, ca. 1988. Silver dye bleach print (Cibachrome), image: 9 x 13 1/4 in. (22.9 x 33.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Ilford Photo Corporation, 1991.59.6. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1991.59.6_PS4.jpg)
Lynn Hyman Butler (American, born 1953). The Girl with a Gun, ca. 1988. Silver dye bleach print (Cibachrome), image: 9 x 13 1/4 in. (22.9 x 33.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Ilford Photo Corporation, 1991.59.6. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1991.59.6.jpg)
The Girl with a Gun
Lynn Hyman Butler
Photography
For her series Coney Island Kaleidoscope, Lynn Hyman Butler photographed while in motion “to capture the sense of time passing.” The resulting effect produces dreamscapes saturated with color: riderless kiddie horses hypnotically glide in The Red Horse; a teenager holds either a toy gun or the real thing in The Girl with a Gun.
Butler wants her photographs to serve as reminders that “the decision of whether to save or relinquish landscapes such as these will be of increasing urgency.” The nighttime scene behind the gun-toting girl features neon signs for the famous El Dorado Carousel, the Wonder Wheel, and the Cyclone, which alert the viewer to the potential dangers of demolition and development — to what can still be lost.
Butler wants her photographs to serve as reminders that “the decision of whether to save or relinquish landscapes such as these will be of increasing urgency.” The nighttime scene behind the gun-toting girl features neon signs for the famous El Dorado Carousel, the Wonder Wheel, and the Cyclone, which alert the viewer to the potential dangers of demolition and development — to what can still be lost.
MEDIUM
Silver dye bleach print (Cibachrome)
DATES
ca. 1988
DIMENSIONS
image: 9 x 13 1/4 in. (22.9 x 33.7 cm)
sheet: 11 x 13 3/4 in. (27.9 x 34.9 cm) (show scale)
SIGNATURE
Signed bottom verso in pencil: "Lynn Hyman Butler 4/25"
COLLECTIONS
Photography
ACCESSION NUMBER
1991.59.6
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Ilford Photo Corporation
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Lynn Hyman Butler (American, born 1953). The Girl with a Gun, ca. 1988. Silver dye bleach print (Cibachrome), image: 9 x 13 1/4 in. (22.9 x 33.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Ilford Photo Corporation, 1991.59.6. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1991.59.6_PS4.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 1991.59.6_PS4.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2013
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
© Lynn Hyman Butler
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