Artists Rooms: Diane Arbus

I have been extremely busy at college recently so regretably neglecting my OCA coursework but I did manage to visit the Diane Arbus exhibition at the Dean Gallery, Edinburgh.

Arbus was born in 1923 and became a significant documentary photographer, producing work from the 1940s until her untimely death in 1971. Although her career began as a fashion photographer for magazines such as Harper's Bazzar and Vogue, she is most remembered for her direct photographs of people, often those on the edge of society, challenging our notions of convention and the 'norm'.

Working my way through the People Unaware exercises and struggling with how to capture compelling images of strangers, I am amazed at the intimacy and rapport Arbus undoubtably had with her subjects. Her early New York street photography would be almost impossible in today's climate and I so admire her ability to befriend and connect with people, resulting in honest, revealing portraits.

She developed a fascination for documenting sub-cultures, self-contained groups and mini-societies, such as ethnic minorities, nudists, socialites, fairground workers and circus performers. Often she is described as photographing 'freaks' but also of producing images that are 'an uncritical celebration of things as they are'. She is quoted as saying 'Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats.'

Walking round the exhibition I found myself drawn to these images but felt almost voyeuristic, akin to the people who paid their penny to see the freak shows Arbus photographed. 

In the 60s she began working with a square format, twin-lens Rolleiflex camera. The photographer looks into this camera from above, allowing for eye contact and a greater rapport with the subject than can be achieved by holding a SLR to the eye. This format really appealed to me and although I can't use the same camera, it would be an interesting exercise to shoot and crop with a square image in mind. She placed the subject centre frame, usually looking direct to camera, creating an intimacy and curiosity. The sitter looks you in the eye and you are compelled to look back, trying to gleam something of that person, but as she said,  'A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know'.