Diane Arbus was for her known for her groundbreaking work in the field of photography in an era less accepting than today . Through the help of her work, she tried to shed light and bring representation to a multitude of marginalized subcultures. These groups include the LGBTQ+ community, but also performers of all shapes and sizes (e.g. strippers, carnival performers, nudists, dwarves) and many more groups labeled as “freaks”, living on the edge of society. She captures her subjects in their natural surroundings around New York City and explores issues surrounding gender that were controversial in her time.
I was drawn to her style of photography because her subjects are portrayed in a very raw and real fashion. She doesn’t einhalte the normal boundaries between a photographer and the subject and that makes her photographs so intense.
While she was alive, she gained some recognition. Some of her work was published in many famous magazines throughout the 1960s (e.g. Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, Artforum). However, she really rose to fame after her untimely death in 1971 when a major retrospective of her art was held in the Museum of Modern Art in her hometown of New York City and it became the most visited exhibition in the museums history.
One of her most recognizable pictures is of the 7-year old Wade twins, taken at a Christmas party for twins and triplets. The twins look exactly alike, except for their expression which makes the photo stand out from being just a simple portrait.
Another photograph that caught my eye was the iconic shot of young Colin Wood, who looks very tense while clutching a toy grenade and grimacing towards the camera. The background of this photo is that the child’s parents were getting a divorce and he was feeling abandoned and frustrated
This intimate portrait of a young man getting ready in drag is a perfect example for Arbus’ interest in gender identity. The features in the picture are perfectly balanced between masculine and feminine and it shows vulnerability as he is not yet fully transformed. The strong defiant look in his also portrays self-acceptance which is very controversial in a time where homophobia was present for most gays in everyday life. It is a provocative image for its time and still continues to portray this idea of defiance against hate and tolerance towards all today.
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