Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus was born in the early 1920's in New York. Her parents were fairly well off so it cushioned her from experiencing The Great Depression as much as most of the country. Her father owned a department store on Fifth Avenue. He hired some photographers to come in and do some photos that were to be used in advertising. Diane found them fascinating and started doing photography herself. She and her husband would do commercial photography in the 50's and early 60's. She eventually tired of fashion and commercialism so she bought a new camera and started taking photos of other things. One thing that caught her eye were the people that most of us pass by without giving any consideration. There are any number of adjectives you could use to describe her human subjects, but it all boils down to the fact that they were just like us. Maybe they were a little uglier or hairier or transvestitier (that's a new word I just made up) but they're essentially us. What she captured was an America that lived in the in-between spaces that the "elite" don't occupy. Before her suicide in 1971, she had works shown at MoMA, she had taught photography at Parsons School of Design, and had many photos in all the popular magazines of the day. After her death, her images live on in galleries and homes all over the world. She gives hope to those of us who might consider ourselves a bit outside the norm. She proved that odd can be beautiful. See more at diane-arbus-photography.com
See Reviews of other things at talkingsimian.blogspot.com

Documentary about Diane from 1972

Trailer from the film Fur.

Nicole Kidman playing Diane in the film Fur which wasn't biographical. While it had some true elements, it really didn't have much to do with her life at all. It was just a story that used her name. (With Robert Downy, Jr.)

 ​