Diane Arbus was born March 14, 1923 and died July 26, 1971. She was an American photographer who liked to take photographs of people that were marginalized in the 1960-70s. This includes dwarfs, giants, transgender people, nudists, circus performers and others who were perceived by the general public as ugly or surreal. Her work has been described as manipulation characterized by blatant sensationalism. She studied briefly with Alexey Brodovich in 1954. However, it was her studies with Lisette Model, which began in 1956, that encouraged Arbus to focus exclusively on her own work. That year Arbus quit the commercial photography business and began numbering her negatives. Her last known negative was labelled #7459. Based on Model's advice, Arbus avoided loading film in the camera as an exercise in truly seeing. Arbus also credits Model with making it clear to her that "the more specific you are, the more general it'll be." |
Photo 1: A young man with curlers at home west 20th street (1966)
Photo 2: A child with a toy hand grenade at central park (1962)
Photo 3: Albino sword swallower at circus (1970)
Photo 4: A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx (1970)
Photo 5: Identical Twins (1967)
Photo 6: Untitled (1970-71)
Photo 2: A child with a toy hand grenade at central park (1962)
Photo 3: Albino sword swallower at circus (1970)
Photo 4: A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx (1970)
Photo 5: Identical Twins (1967)
Photo 6: Untitled (1970-71)
I have chosen Diana Arbus to study as I love her photography. She looks at people who have been marginalized by society in the 1960-70s. I believe that she wants to make everyone's voices heard and how these people are perceived in everyday life. Arbus looked at people who were marginalised by their religion, looks, age, jobs, colour and multiple other aspects. I will use her ideas and add my own as well to create my own photos.