Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus attracted my attention with her intense black and white portraits of unusual subjects. The people photographed by Diane often looked pitiful, conflicted or had some form of physical abnormality. The charm of her photos is that despite the flaws her human subjects possessed, they did not bother hiding anything. Instead, they stared right at Diane through her lens. In a way, Diane made them challenge the viewers through her photographs. 

Diane's husband, Allan Arbus, gave Diane her very first camera. The couple started off shooting clothings together and moved on to fashion shoots with human models where Diane did styling. However, Diane wanted more opportunities and freedom to express herself in photography. She started taking photography classes with Lisette Model who taught her how to master photography tecniques and most importantly, to overcome her fears and doubts.

Diane once said, "My favourite thing is to go where I've never been.", and her subjects clearly shows that she did push boundaries, stepped out of her comfort zone to follow her passion.

I believe that Diane's fascination with the unusual people she photographs was a result of the safe and wealthy environment she grew up in. Her decision to photograph strange and flawed individuals rather than common subjects showed her rejection towards people of her social status. In revolting against what she has been living with most of her life, she wants to prove her artistic independence.

"A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know." This is another one of my favourite quotes from Diane Arbus. This tells us exactly why her photos are so powerful. The subjects in her photos shows themselves without hesitation or shame but still there's a lot more about them that needs to be uncovered. The photos make you question yourself about what you want to hide or reveal.