Diane Arbus

I have chosen to do my project on Diane Arbus. Originally, I was not very impressed by her work and judged it as wierd and out there in left field. Only after doing research and reading about her attitude towards life, her subjects, and the world in general did I realize her purpose and meaning in photography. Her photos may be out of the ordinary, however she chose to photograph the things in life that most fascinated her...people. Diane was very open regarding sexuality in that many of her pictures contain nudity and she has collections pertaining to nudist colonies and transvestites. The picture below is a self portrait that Diane took when she was pregnant with her first child, Doon. She sent this and many other pregnancy photos to her husband while he was stationed in India during WWII.

The below picture is a very famous picture that was taken in a very casual manner(1962). The boy was playing in the park and he happened to be playing with a toy grenade. Diane asked him to pose for a picture, and then she purposely stalled in taking the picture in order to make him impatient. When his expression was right, she snapped the photo.

This photo is untitled and was taken in 1971 at a group home that Diane frequently visited. She had a very special relationship with the residents there. She once described them to her daughter as adults who are also children, and she adored them.

The above photo is one of her most famous photos, named Identical Twins (Roselle, New Jersey 1967). The likeness of this photo was used in the movie "The Shining", and prints of it have sold for around $400,000.