People in Winogrand "Central Park Zoo, New York City"

February 21, 2016 3:10 PM

Curious about the individuals shown carrying chimpanzees in Garry Winogrand's 1967 photo, Central Park Zoo, New York City. Tod Papageorge recounts how the photo was taken in this essay, but doesn't reveal what either he or Winogrand might have learned about the people and their clothed chimpanzees. Forever anonymous? Or written up in some piece I'm not finding?
posted by xaryts to Media & Arts (1 answer total)

I'm not sure about the situation in that picture in particular, but the Central Park Zoo was a menagerie before it was the Central Park Zoo, and well into the 1970s they would dress primates in clothes and have them perform and do tricks for visitors. My first guess is that the chimps they are walking with are actually zoo animals.

My alternative guess would be that primates-as-pets was not really regulated in the 1960s and it was possible, especially for wealthy people, to acquire pet young chimpanzees with relative ease. They might have just been taking their pets to the zoo.
posted by ChuraChura at 3:31 PM on February 21, 2016 [1 favorite]