In front of the camera, the mentally retarded do not play long. He gets tired and displays his true psychology. Diane triggers in that short moment. She did the same with children.
In 1962 in Central Park, the boy with toy hand grenade is suddenly exasperated by the woman who runs around him for the photo. His attitude becomes a revolt, unrelated to the military toy which he forgot at that moment. This is the only image that Diane used from this series. Others should have showed him as a nice child.
A print 30 x 30 cm of the child with grenade was sold for $ 790K including premium by Christie's on May 11, 2015.
The portrait of identical sisters in their Sunday attire was realized in 1967 at a local feast in Roselle NJ that promoted the theme of twins and multiple births. Diane isolated the two girls to photograph them in front of a white wall devoid of any context.
The classic comment that the expressions differentiate the individual personalities of Cathleen and Colleen does not explain the emotional strength of this famous picture. The photo was taken at the very moment when the child on the left loses her conventional smile and begins to sulk in a tiny anticipation over the behavior of her sister.
A silver print 38 x 38 cm of Identical twins was sold for $ 600K including premium by Phillips on 2 April 2013 over a lower estimate of $ 180K. Another copy is estimated £ 250K for sale by Phillips in London on May 21, lot 89. I invite you to watch the video shared by the auction house.