Back when I lived in New Jersey I would often go into New York City to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I remember a photograph I saw on one such trip and I thought I’d try to find it online. I did. It’s called Diptych, Rope Pull by François Alain Deschamps.
Diptych, Rope Pull
I thought it was a fascinating photograph that captured the dichotomy of our society and the “third world.” The artist is using a rope to pull the two worlds together, yet we know he will not succeed. The passers-by look at him, like what is this guy trying to do. They keep walking. In the third-world, the kids are actually standing there watching him, and seem interested in what he’s doing.
I remember happening upon this photograph on exhibit at the museum. I stood staring at it for a long while. Then I walked back down Fifth Avenue to the 34th street station and took the train back to New Jersey. Twenty years ago. Funny the things you remember.
See it at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.