Object number2012.30.20

1960, Mexico (Little girl with doll and stick)

Date1960

Artist Ken Heyman (American, 1930 - 2019)

CultureAmerican

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 11 1/4 x 8 1/4 in. (28.58 x 20.96 cm)

Credit LineGift of Hilary Leff and Elliot Groffman

Period20th c

Classification(s)

Photograph

Signedverso stamped signature and handwritten signature

Inscribedinscribed verso LRC 4ds 10/08 KH-1138 center T002 M-66 #7 center Mexico photo 1960 print 1968

Label TextWhen photographer Ken Heyman first met cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead as a student at Columbia University in the 1950s, Heyman’s photographs of children made an impression on Mead and inspired their decades-long collaboration. Heyman traveled with Mead—who had taught at Vassar from 1939–1941—to places including Bali and Mexico, employing photography as a companion to Mead’s observations about child development and family structures. This work was published in the 1965 book "Family," which established Heyman’s reputation as a visual anthropologist. In the larger context of American cultural diplomacy in the mid-twentieth century, Heyman and Mead’s work contributed to a narrative of American dominance that was often reinforced through visual culture, especially photography. While "Family" made observations about cultural specificity, its deepest impact was in depicting “universal” experiences of childhood and family, which were illustrated by cultures deemed less modern than the United States. Though intended to be humanizing, Heyman’s photographs of children reflect a paternalistic view of Mexico as naive and impoverished—reinforced by the photograph’s title—and therefore in need of “rescuing.”

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu