by Andy Motz
“My favorite thing is to go where I’ve never been.”
— Diane Arbus
The wonderful thing about the artist is that they can inhabit many roles. One can challenge or affirm ideas, one can shed light on truths, or one can ask questions about the unknowns in life. Recently the famous American photographer Diane Arbus caught my interest. Taking pictures from the 1940’s through the 1960’s before ending her life in 1971 her unique, distinctly American photos will be remembered for generations to come, because once one views them they are simply hard to forget. What role did Arbus inhabit? She chose to explore and capture the dark crevasses of life in all its glory. The unknowns, the overlooked, the “freaks” of society, or simply the person on the street all were subject to Arbus’ art, art which still causes quite a stir today.
Diane Arbus grew up in a protected environment. Her rich and privileged family made sure to keep her safe and distanced from the outside world, always giving her what she wanted or desired. This is key to understanding her photography, because in my opinion this is what drove her to venture into and capture the unknown, which could range from twins, to a hermaphrodite, to a family in the comfort in their backyard. She captured people and places in a way that espouses emotions of shock, sympathy, admiration, and the crinkling of the brow.
Her photographs are usually very close up on the subjects allowing us to study the intricacies of the human face in all its forms. On the close-ups the back round is often dark or totally black. If Arbus took pictures from a wider angle they are full of empty space and the back rounds are usually out of focus. All these techniques are used to direct our eyes to the human/subject in the foreground. The pictures are striking and thoughtfully composed, but what always sticks out is the human face.
She realizes how fascinating and complex the human face truly is. Anyone who looks at her photos longs to know what is going on inside the subject’s head; the smiles, the frowns, the wrinkles, the masks, the blank stares. The viewer yearns for understanding, but Arbus realizes that the physical body is a wall that blocks us from the ever-mysterious soul. We want to know about the relationship between this couple and their children, but alas, it only a photograph. It’s only a snapshot of a moment, a slice of life that is gone forever after the picture is taken.
What still causes debate is the question whether or not Arbus was exploiting these people. The reason they were photographed was because they stuck out to her, caught her eye, and were less than normal. So was Diane Arbus essentially creating a modern day freak show with her exhibits? It’s a thin line, but I don’t think she was. These beautiful photographs express the vastness of the human experience. There are so many different people represented in her photography demonstrating that humanity is anything but simple: the similarities and differences between a couple in central park and one in a nudist camp or the joy of a transvestite to the pain of a rich widow left with only with her “stuff” as comfort. She brings those who society ignores or tries to ignore to the forefront.
Stunning, thought provoking, mesmerizing, and complex, Diane Arbus was in her own way an adventurer. She went places people wouldn’t think of going, found people many would be scared to talk to, and captured moments in time for all of us to witness.
Incrivelmente especial!