Bubble Gum

I came across a very interesting photograph whilst online, it was titled ‘The Bubble Gum Kid’ taken in Chicago by Marvin E. Newman in 1950. The nature of this black and white photograph  appeared to show a young African-American boy aged around 9 or 10 walking purposefully, even with a bit of a swagger along the city sidewalk, right hand in his jacket pocket and left thumb tucked into his trousers all the while blowing an enormous bubble gum bubble! He was clearing have a fun time showing off his skills and performance for the photographer. The back drop however makes for a different scene. The area looks run down and in a less favourable side of town, an older white male walks away from us wearing a cloth cap passed a small parked car. The street looks dirty with old tenement buildings creating the perspective, it looks cold and somewhat bleak.

I was drawn to the image partly because it has captured a moment in time of a young boy enjoying himself, having fun as only a child can do, making any moment or time into play time. His appearance suggests a poor or difficult up bringing with old dirty clothes and worn shoes but the image is full of life and excitement. I wanted to paint this image but instead of slavishly copying I wanted to bring something new to the scene. Using a small Linen canvas I wanted to create a stripped down image, omitting the passing adult and the car, simplifying the buildings into abstract blocks and narrowing the field of view. I also decided to add colour to the image but only in places. The young boys skin would remain in black and white or to be more precise greyscale, the background and foreground would be various shades of green. Green because it gives the painting a warm natural glow, not of the cold grey street but of the boys inner calm and happiness, also tonally it works with the skin colour and the main focus of attention the bubble gum. I chose this to be pink. The abstraction of the buildings combined with the details of the face balances well with the green tones of the clothing.

I feel the painting stands alone from the original photograph although clearly influenced by it, it still highlights the joy and fun the boy is having, the pride he feels in his bubble achievement and focuses all the attention on him right now at that exact moment in time, what he was feeling and not the socio-economic ‘adult’ world surrounding him.