Artist Research

Here are a few of Diane Arbus photographs I used in my presentation.

Child with toy hand grenade. Photographed in New York City in 1962.

This photograph is rather disturbing in the way the boy is pulling a face and holding a hand grenade in one hand, with a claw like gesture in the other hand.

Also the boy has the left strap of his jumper awkwardly hanging off his shoulder, with his long slim arms by his side, Clenching his toys in his hand.

This is a typical image of a young boy in his own imaginary world, I feel Diane captured this really well. Also the lighting through the trees gives nice detail in the background, also making the boy stand out more. 

No Name.

This image makes me feel really uncomfortable, as I’m not sure where the model is looking. Her eyes and mind seem to be in different places as there is a strong confused look on her face.

I’m unsure of what this image is about but just by looking at it now, to me its about the women in her natural form.

I also like the way Diane has cropped this image so it is focused on the women's face with out any distraction from the back ground. 

Photographed in 1971

This image is very unreal as its strange to find a man wearing a mask, in the middle of the day in a field.

I’m not sure why the person is wearing a mask in the photograph, but just looking at it now, to me its like saying people have a hard mask on to front other people and no one truly knows what is hiding underneath. I also think that because Diane specializes in taking photographs of ugly and surreal people this is why she has included the mask, to add to the effects of being ugly and looking unnatural.

I like the use of distance in this image, it helps exaggerate the emptiness of the field making the figure look more lonely and more surreal, the shadow also emphasis this.

A Naked Man Being A Women, Photographed in 1970

This image gives a bit of humour to Diane Arbus work, as its very unusual to see a grown man wear a women's bikini in a caravan. I feel the curtains behind the man adds to the theatre style giving more of a sense of humar in the image. As you can see there is a dog on the mans lap, to me I think the dog is there as a sign of power to the man as well as the way the man is sat on the chair with his hand on his hip and stern look in his eye, this is also a sign that he has power.

I cant help but ask myself, was this image planned by the photographer? Or is this actually what the man in the image does in his spare time?

A Young Man With Curlers, Photographed in 1965

 I really like this image as its something you don’t see often. Its strange in the sense that its a man wearing hair curlers and has perfectly shaped eye brows.

Even the way the man is holding his cigarette in his hand with long fingernails, gives a sense that this man is more femanine rather than manly this is what makes this picture look so surreal.

When this image was first exhabitioned, one of the early reactions to the photograph were strong, for example someone spat on it in 1967 at the Museum of Modern Art.