Image

Grayscale photograph of two young boys standing with crutches and looking to the left. Another young child with crutches and leg braces walks into the park behind them.

Larry Silver

Polio Camp, Upstate New York

Description

Maker

Larry Silver (American, b. 1934)

Title

Polio Camp, Upstate New York

Year

1952 (printed later)

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Dimensions

Image: 33.7 x 35.6 cm (13 1/4 x 14 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

On On verso, at center, in graphite: 106 / NYC 01 / Larry Silver / POLIO CAMP / UPSTATE NY / 1952.

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Bruce Silverstein

Object Number

2018.104.16

Type

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Variance
Making, Unmaking, and Remaking Disability
Feb 01, 2022 – Oct 09, 2022

Label copy

This photograph puts the viewer on the ground, looking up at the young children on crutches at play in a grassy field. Polio presented a major health threat until the first effective vaccine was developed in 1952. Children who survived polio but developed related disabilities faced stigma, but camps-such as the one depicted here-offered spaces for these children to be able to themselves, with their peers. This photograph both monumentalizes these children and allows us to consider the importance of vaccination. Since 1979, the United States has not had a single documented case of polio.

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Tombstone

Larry Silver (American, b. 1934)
Polio Camp, Upstate New York, 1952 (printed later)
Gelatin silver print
Image: 33.7 x 35.6 cm (13 1/4 x 14 inches)
Gift of Bruce Silverstein 2018.104.16

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