Eve Arnold (1912-2012)

Eve Arnold (1912-2012)

LESBIAN WEDDING CELEBRATION, 1965. Vintage silver gelatin print, image size 278 x 190mm, sheet size 305 x 238mm, signed by the photographer in ink lower right margin recto, signed, titled, and dated by the photographer in pencil verso.

"The lesbians who were marrying each other agreed to being photographed on their wedding day, but insisted that I photograph the whipping of the man who was part of the celebration. They said he had insulted one of their number by falling in love with her and asking her to marry him. He had to be punished. He would come to the wedding for his whipping and bring his own whips in his flute case (he was a flautist with one of the great orchestras). I photographed him in his old-fashioned bathing cap, child’s rubber training pants and petticoat being whipped by the bridal pair after the girl he had loved walked on his belly in stiletto heels." -- Eve Arnold

Provenance:

Bonhams, 3 November 1993, Eve Arnold Photographs: "The Private Eye".