Diane Arbus
COM 241
Photography I
Freaks was a thing I photographed a lot.... Most people
go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic
experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've
already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats.
- Diane Arbus
About
• Remembered for her photographs depicting
outsiders (“freaks” as she called them),
such as transvestites, dwarves, giants,
prostitutes, etc.
• Born in New York City
• Started out as fashion photographer
• Then became photojournalist shooting for
NYC magazines like Esquire, Harper’s
Bazaar
• Committed suicide in 1971 at the age of 48
Photograph of Diane
Arbus by Allan Arbus
(a film test), c. 1949
Links
• Short biography of Diane Arbus from the
Encyclopedia of Photography
• Selection of photos http://diane-arbusphotography.com/
A scrawny boy, with the
left strap of his jumper
awkwardly hanging off his
shoulder, tensely holds his
long, thin arms by his side.
Clenching a toy grenade in
his right hand and holding
his left hand in a claw-like
gesture, his facial
expression is maniacal.
Arbus captured this
photograph by having the
boy stand while moving
around him, claiming she
was trying to find the right
angle. The boy became
impatient and told her to
"Take the picture
already!”
Child with a toy hand grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C. 1962. A print of
this photograph was sold in 2005 at auction for $408,000.
Teenage couple on Hudson Street, N.Y.C. 1963
Triplets in their bedroom, N.J.
1963
Burlesque Comedienne in her dressing room, Atlantic City, NJ, 1963
I had always wanted
to go but I sort of
didn't dare tell
anybody. The director
met me at the bus
station because I
didn't have a car so I
got in his car and I
was very nervous. He
said, "I hope you
realize you've come to
a nudist camp." Well, I
hope I realized I had.
So we were in total
agreement there.
A Young Waitress at a Nudist Camp, N.J., 1963
Puerto Rican woman with a beauty mark, N.Y.C.
1965
A young man with curlers at home on West 20th Street, N.Y.C. 1966. A
print was sold for $198,400 at a 2004 auction
Woman in Her Negligee, NYC, 1966
Boy with a straw hat waiting to march in a pro-war parade, N.Y.C.
1967
Young twin sisters
are seen standing
side by side in
corduroy dresses.
Arbus's aesthetic in
this photo was
echoed in Stanley
Kubrick 's film,
The Shining that
featured twins in
an identical pose.
Arbus' photograph,
Identical Twins is
seventh on the list
of the list of most
expensive
photographs,
having sold in
2004 for $478,400.
Identical twins, Roselle, N.J.
1967
Long after Diane Arbus
photographed them, twins
Cathleen Mulcahy, left, and
Colleen Yorke are still
recognized by strangers.
(Helayne Seidman - For The
Washington Post)
Eddie Carmel ,
the "Jewish
Giant", stands in
his family's
apartment with his
much shorter
mother and father.
Jewish Giant at Home with His Parents in The Bronx, NY (1970). A print was sold at
auction for $421,000 in 2007.
Mexican dwarf in his hotel room in N.Y.C.
1970
King and Queen of a Senior Citizens Dance, N.Y.C.
1970