Restaurant Window, South Carolina
To visualize the toll of the Great Depression, Sekaer sought out people at the margins of American life. Here, he photographs through the window of a segregated restaurant in South Carolina, exchanging glances with a woman inside. The commercial graphics disrupting her view would have appealed to Sekaer, a former sign painter. Yet these compositional impediments signal a greater social barrier between artist and subject, which the photograph seeks to reveal.
Artwork Details
- Title: Restaurant Window, South Carolina
- Artist: Peter Sekaer (American (born Denmark), Copenhagen 1901–1950 Ardsley, New York)
- Date: 1936
- Medium: Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions: Image: 5 3/4 × 6 15/16 in. (14.6 × 17.6 cm)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Purchase, The Lauder Foundation, Leonard and Judy Lauder Fund Gift, 2019
- Object Number: 2019.188
- Rights and Reproduction: © Estate of Peter Sekaer, courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Peter Sekaer
1900s–1930s
Peter Sekaer
1936
Peter Sekaer
Walker Evans
1935
Peter Sekaer
1935
Peter Sekaer
ca. 1938
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.