Kite Flying on Rooftop
Social Media Share Tools
Object Details
- Artist
- Hiram Maristany, born New York City 1945-died St. Petersburg, FL 2022
- Exhibition Label
- 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
- Exhibition Label in Spanish
- 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
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center
- Copyright
- © 1964, Hiram Maristany
- 1964
- Object number
- 2016.30.5
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Photography
- Medium
- gelatin silver print
- Dimensions
- image: 13 × 17 5/8 in. (33.0 × 44.8 cm) sheet: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Graphic Arts
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Topic
- Cityscape
- Architecture\commercial\skyscraper
- Recreation\sport and play\kite flying
- Figure male\child\full length
- Object\toy\kite
- Record ID
- saam_2016.30.5
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Not determined
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7f765737f-1ec8-4b6f-a2ab-a6dc05dae7cb
Related Content
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.