Diane Arbus

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.

Diane Arbus (née Nemerov) was born in New York City into a wealthy 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. In the 1940s Diane Arbus took classes with Berenice Abbott. Their daughter, Doon, was born in 1945 and their second daughter, Amy was born in 1954. In 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, suffering from depression, Diane Arbus took her own life, by ingesting pills and slashing herself with a razor. She was 48 years old.

Famous photographs

Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, New York City (1962) — A scrawny boy, 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.

Identical Twins, Roselle, New Jersey, 1967 — Young twin sisters are seen standing side by side in corduroy dresses. One slightly smiles and the other slightly frowns. This photo is echoed in Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining, which features twins in an identical pose.