Diane Arbus selected this image for inclusion in her only portfolio, "A Box of Ten Photographs", in 1971. It is one of her most famous works.
When Arbus captured ‘A Jewish Giant at Home with His Parents in the Bronx, N. Y.’ in 1970, the year before her death, she had known Eddie Carmel for a decade, having first photographed him in 1960 at Hubert's Dime Museum and Flea Circus in Times Square. From 1961 to 1968 he worked for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, where he was dubbed ‘The Tallest Man on Earth’ and ‘The World’s Greatest Giant,’ erroneously billed as standing more than 9 feet tall and weighing 500 pounds. Carmel was also somewhat famous due to his appearances in B-movies such as The Brain that Wouldn’t Die (1962) and 50,000 B.C. (Before Clothes) (1963).
Born Oded Ha-Carmeili in Tel Aviv to American-immigrant parents, Carmel’s gigantism stemmed from acromegaly, a glandular disorder, which began to affect his growth during his teenage years. By 1970, the condition caused an extreme curvature in his spine so that he needed to use two canes in order to stand. While Arbus was initially intrigued by Carmel's abnormality, her photograph also encapsulates his humanity and the difficult reality of his familial situation. Deteriorating health forced Carmel to live with his parents, whose lives in turn were limited by the responsibility of caring for their son. The strained relationship between Carmel and his father, who did not approve of his circus work, is painfully apparent in this image.
Eddie died some 18 months after this picture was taken, aged 36, a year after Arbus herself.

This is a genuine vintage photogravure, printed in Switzerland in 1972.. Archivally mounted on 100% acid-free board, matted to 12" x 12" and in a black wooden frame.