Diane Arbus
In the eye of the beholder
From early on, photography developed the capacity to dedicate itself above all to those in the blind spot of most people’s perception. Few cities offer as many opportunities for this as the dynamic urban sprawl of New York. The photographs by Jacob August Riis are among the earliest examples of portraits of the “freaks” in this metropolis. The Danish photographer drifted through the slums and drinking holes from the late 1870s on behalf of various New York newspapers, taking photographs of the poorest of the poor, dawdlers, vagabonds and prostitutes – but always with the greatest empathy and driven by the desire to shed light on their situation. Several decades later, the charismatic photojournalist Arthur Fellig, called “Weegee”, portrayed colorful street life in the Big Apple, more drastically but with the same deeply-felt sympathy for the people on the margins of society.
Diane Arbus dealt with social exclusion in her photographic work, showing American society what it would rather not see. She records the personal history engraved in each person’s physiognomy with great intensity and an immediacy that is essentially unique in the history of photography. Arbus’s work captivates the viewer with both a sense of identification and dissociation.
Her subjects gaze directly into the camera, attesting to the rapport she builds up with her protagonists and pointing to their more or less conscious act of self-expression: Like the girl in her circus costume, or like in the portrait of Susan Sontag. The critic first wrote about Arbus' work in her essay “Freak Show”, which was originally published in the New York Review of Books in 1973 and then later published her famous essay “On Photography” analyzing Diane Arbus’s visual language.
Diane Arbus studied photography with Berenice Abbott, but the workshops she attended later on by the American photographer Lisette Model had the greatest impact on her career. Beginning in 1960, her portraits and photo essays were published in major magazines like Esquire and Harper's Bazaar. The Museum of Modern Art in New York presented her work for the first time in 1965 in the exhibition “Recent Acquisitions: Photography", followed by the exhibition "New Documents" in 1967 and then honored her photographic oeuvre a year after her death with a comprehensive retrospective in 1972. The intensive examination of her work in the form of numerous exhibitions and academic research continues to this day.
Biographical information
1923
born Diane Nemerov in New York, New York, USA
1956-58
studies photography with Lisette Model
1959
began working on a project for Esquire, to be published in 1960. Her work was subsequently published in Harper's Bazaar and The Sunday Times Magazine
1960s
teaching positions at the Parsons School of Design and the Cooper Union, New York, as well as at the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence
1963/66
John Simon Guggenheim Fellowships
1967
thirty of Arbus' photographs are included in the “New Documents” exhibition (curated by John Szarkowski) at the Museum of Modern Art, New York
1969/70
created a limited edition portfolio called "A Box of Ten Photographs", which she printed, signed and annotated.
1971
In May, “Boy with a straw hat waiting to march in a pro-war parade, N.Y.C. 1967” is reproduced on the cover of Artforum, the first time photography appears in the magazine.
1971
takes her own life at her home in the Westbeth Artists Community, New York
1972
“Diane Arbus Portfolio: 10 Photos” is exhibited posthumously at the Venice Biennale
1972
retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, New York and publication of a monograph edited & designed by Doon Arbus and Marvin Israel, published by Aperture, New York
1984
publication of the book “Magazine Work” by Aperture, New York, with an essay by Thomas W. Southall
1995
publication of the book “Untitled” by Aperture, New York, edited & designed by Doon Arbus and Yolanda Cuomo
2003
travelling exhibition “Diane Arbus Revelations” started at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and publication of the corresponding book by Random House, New York, exhibition traveled to 7 venues
2011
travelling exhibition “Diane Arbus” started at Jeu de Paume, Paris, exhibition traveled to 5 venues internationally
2016
travelling exhibition “in the beginning” started at the Metropolitan Museum, New York and publication of the corresponding book by the Metropolitan Museum, New York, exhibition traveled to 3 venues
2018
exhibition “Diane Arbus: a box of ten photographs” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. including a corresponding catalogue co-published by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Aperture, New York
2022
publication of the book “Diane Arbus Documents” by David Zwirner Books, New York & Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco