Diane Arbus (
14 March 1923 –
26 July 1971) was one of the most original and influential
American photographers of the 20th century. In 2003, she and her work were the subject of a major exhibition:
Diane Arbus Revelations that was organized by the
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and traveled to other locations including
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York City in 2005. In 2006 her life story was the subject of a motion picture starring
Nicole Kidman as Diane Arbus.
Personal life
Diane Arbus (née Nemerov) was born in
New York City into a wealthy Jewish family, the younger sister of
Howard Nemerov, who served as
United States Poet Laureate on two separate occasions. She attended the
Fieldston School for Ethical Culture.
She married her childhood sweetheart
Allan Arbus in 1941. During the 1940s she and her husband began a commercial photography business. Their daughter,
Doon, was born in 1945 and their second daughter,
Amy was born in 1954. In the 1940s Diane Arbus took classes with
Berenice Abbott. 1955 she studied with
Alexey Brodovitch and she studied with
Lisette Model in 1956-58. Diane and Allan Arbus separated in 1959, and they were divorced in 1969.
In 1963 and 1966 Diane Arbus was awarded
Guggenheim Fellowships for her project
American Rites, Manners and Customs. During the 1960s, Diane Arbus taught photography at the
Parsons School of Design, and The
Cooper Union in
New York City and the
Rhode Island School of Design in
Providence, Rhode Island.
On July 26, 1971, while living at
Westbeth Artists Community, while suffering from depression, Diane Arbus took her own life, by ingesting pills and slashing herself with a razor. She was 48 years old.
Career highlights
Arbus' Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, New York City (1962)
Famous photographs
- Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, New York City (1962) — Colin Wood, son of tennis player Sidney Wood, 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!" This photo was also used, without permission, on the cover of punk band SNFU's first studio album, And No One Else Wanted to Play.
- Jewish Giant at Home with His Parents in The Bronx, NY (1970) — Eddie Carmel, the "Jewish Giant", stands in his family's apartment with his much shorter mother and father.
- Masked Woman in a Wheelchair PA, 1970
