Diane Arbus

Early Life and Education

Born Diane Nemerov on March 14, 1923, in New York City, Arbus grew up in a privileged environment as the daughter of David Nemerov, who owned Russek's, a famous Fifth Avenue department store. Despite her family's wealth, Arbus experienced emotional isolation in her childhood, later commenting that she felt excluded from "real life." At age 14, she met Allan Arbus, an employee in her family's store advertising department. They married when she was 18, shortly after her father employed Allan to take photographs for store advertisements.

Career Beginnings

The couple established a successful fashion photography business, with Allan operating the camera while Diane styled and directed the shoots. Their work appeared in magazines including Vogue and Harper's Bazaar throughout the 1940s and early 1950s. However, Diane found the commercial fashion world increasingly restrictive and unfulfilling. In 1956, she numbered a roll of film #1, symbolically marking her departure from commercial work and the beginning of her artistic career. Around this time, her marriage began dissolving, though she and Allan would remain close even after their 1969 divorce.

Artistic Development

A pivotal moment in Arbus's development came when she studied with photographer Lisette Model at the New School for Social Research in New York beginning in 1957. Model encouraged Arbus to pursue subjects that genuinely interested her and to engage more directly with her subjects. This period marked Arbus's transition to the distinctive square format Rolleiflex camera and her embrace of more confrontational portraiture. By the early 1960s, she had abandoned the 35mm format entirely, preferring the formality and deliberateness the medium format camera required.

Photographic Style and Subjects

Arbus developed a highly recognizable photographic style characterized by:

• Square format compositions
• Direct, often harsh flash lighting
• Black borders around prints (showing the negative's entirety)
• Frontal, confrontational positioning of subjects
• Subjects looking directly at the camera

She was drawn to subjects who existed outside mainstream society, including:

• Carnival and circus performers
• Individuals with developmental disabilities or physical differences
• Cross-dressers and transgender people
• Nudists
• People at the extremes of society (very wealthy or impoverished)

Arbus's approach to portraiture was distinctive in how she positioned herself neither above nor below her subjects but on equal footing with them. She spent time developing relationships with those she photographed, often returning multiple times to photograph the same individual or group. This approach resulted in images that reveal both vulnerability and dignity, maintaining a complicated tension between empathy and voyeurism that continues to provoke debate among critics and viewers.

Notable Works

Among Arbus's most famous photographs are:

• "Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C." (1962) - A tense portrait of a young boy with a clenched face holding a toy grenade
• "Identical Twins, Roselle, N.J." (1967) - A haunting image of twin girls in matching dresses that inspired elements in Stanley Kubrick's film "The Shining"
• "Jewish Giant at Home with His Parents in the Bronx, N.Y." (1970) - Contrasting the extreme height of Eddie Carmel with his diminutive parents
• "A Young Brooklyn Family Going for a Sunday Outing, N.Y.C." (1966) - A portrait revealing the complex dynamics of family relationships

Recognition and Critical Reception

Throughout the 1960s, Arbus received increasing recognition for her unique vision. In 1963, she received her first Guggenheim Fellowship, which she used to create a series titled "American Rites, Manners, and Customs." She received a second Guggenheim Fellowship in 1966. Her work was included in the influential "New Documents" exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1967, alongside photographers Garry Winogrand and Lee Friedlander. This exhibition, curated by John Szarkowski, solidified her place in the canon of American photography.

Critical reception of Arbus's work has been polarized from the beginning. Some critics accused her of exploiting her subjects or creating "freak show" imagery, while others praised her for humanizing marginalized individuals and challenging social norms about who deserves to be seen. Susan Sontag's famous critique in "On Photography" (1977) argued that Arbus's work did not invite viewers to identify with her subjects but rather reinforced their otherness. This debate continues to frame discussions of her photography.

Personal Struggles and Death

Throughout her life, Arbus struggled with episodes of depression, which intensified in her later years. She experienced periods of creative difficulty and personal crisis, including the deterioration of significant relationships. On July 26, 1971, at age 48, she took her own life in her New York apartment, leaving behind a remarkable but relatively small body of work, as she was highly selective about which images she considered successful.

Legacy and Influence

Arbus's work gained even greater prominence after her death. In 1972, she became the first American photographer to have work displayed at the Venice Biennale. That same year, a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art attracted more visitors than any previous photography exhibition at the institution, indicating the powerful public response to her images.

Her influence on subsequent generations of photographers has been immense, particularly in portraiture. Photographers including Mary Ellen Mark, Sally Mann, and Nan Goldin acknowledge her impact on their approach to intimate human subjects. Beyond photography, her aesthetic has influenced filmmakers, writers, and other visual artists. The directness and emotional complexity of her portraits established new possibilities for representing human subjects in art.

The Diane Arbus Archive at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, established after her daughter Doon Arbus donated it in 2007, ensures her continued study and appreciation. Major exhibitions continue to introduce her work to new audiences, including "Diane Arbus Revelations" (2003-2006) and "diane arbus: in the beginning" (2016-2017), which focused on her early work.

Arbus's ability to create images that remain provocative and challenging decades after their creation testifies to her artistic achievement and her profound insight into human vulnerability, difference, and the complexities of photographic representation.