Diane Arbus was an American photographer who was noted for black and white square photos of deviant and marginal people (dwarfs, circus people, nudity etc) or of people whos normality seemed ugly or surreal.
She learned photography from her husband Allan Arbus but then went off on her own. While she was working with her husband they started out doing advertising and fashion photography and they made a good team as they appeared in magazines such as 'Vogue'. Diane believed that a camera was cold but that it revealed the truth of someone and who they really are.
By the mid 60s, Diane Arbus was a well-established photographer, participating in shows at the Museum of Modern Art in New York aswell as many other places. She was known for going to great lengths to get the shots she wanted. She became friends with many other famous photographers.
She was chosen to take the Matthaei family photos because they found her unique. Diane often showed the darkness within herself in the photos to show she was a depressed person.
She did try to be good with her photos and she managed to capture peoples emotions.
People found her work unique and also found she had a perculiar taste in photos she took.
The difference between a potrait picure and a photo journalism photo is that a potrait tends to be a picture of someone. With a potrait photo, instead of the person in front of the camera having the power it is infact the person behind the camera that has the power to do whatever they want with the photo.
In some ways a potrait picture tells the truth because you know it is a pose but we also know that they tend not to tell the true story of someone and their background because the person behind the camera controls the person infront of it to suit how they want the photo to look.
While professionally Arbus continued to thrive in the late 1960s, she had some personal challenges. Her marriage ended in 1969, and she later struggled with depression.
Diane killed herself on the 26th July 1971 by ingesting barbiturates and slashing her wrists with a razor.
Here are some quotes from Diana Arbus:
'A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know'.
This is saying that if you know alot about a photo you dont explore it as much so in the end you dont find out as much about it.
'I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn't photograph them'.
This is saying that you need to have your photo taken because otherwise you wouldnt know what you were really like and your true emotions
One year she was asked to take christmas family potraits for the Matteious family. Instead of showing the family happy and excited she chose to show them when there not at there happiest.This photo shows a teenage girl that appears (just like any other teenager) to look really moody when they are not getting what they want. Arbus took this picture when the girl least expected it so we can see the true emotions she is showing on a family picture day.
Arbus thought this would send out more of a message about the person in the photo and make it more interesting to look at.
You can also see in this photo that there is a depressed feeling in it this conveys her true emotions at that moment in time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Arbus
http://www.biography.com/people/diane-arbus-9187461
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/d/diane_arbus.html
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