Emma Street, Lakeland, Florida

1982

Nicholas Nixon

(American, 1947-)

Culture

America

Medium

gelatin silver print

Measurements

Image: 19.5 x 24.5 cm (7 11/16 x 9 5/8 in.); Paper: 20.3 x 25.3 cm (8 x 9 15/16 in.); Matted: 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Museum members in 1989 1989.461

Impression

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Location

Not on view

Description

Nicholas Nixon began his career in the late 1960s, photographing architectural views and cityscapes before turning to portraiture. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, he recorded working-class and impoverished Americans in urban and rural locations. In this visually complex image of several generations, Nixon positions the subjects and photographs them up close to decrease the sense of deep space, allowing the subjects to dominate the composition. Although physically close, the eyes of the figures are diverted from one another and the camera, and they appear emotionally distant and in their own separate worlds. The photograph avoids sentimentality while providing a social documentation and a study of human interaction.