Artist 9

Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus started out working for her husband, Allan Arbus, in fashion photography. She branched out and started taking photos of people while wandering the streets of New York in the 1960s. These images captured the eccentric, raw nature of some of the cities inhabitant. She visited seedy hotels, public parks, and other various locals. Her images have a psychological narrative to them. I think one must look at the subtleties of the shots and ask further questions about the subjects. For example in the top twins shot, notice how the one twin has a slight smile and the other twin as a slight frown, perhaps alluding to aspects of the human condition as the classic theater image does. There  seems to be a "freak show' quality to her shots, but in my opinion they are best when they are not over the top. I think it is important to understand the image in realtion to the time period. Entering the 1960s, American culture was very controlled, not allowing for much variation in lifestyle. Daine Arbus made an existential choice and decided to end her life in 1971.