Diane Arbus
1974
$345.00
Diane Arbus by Diane Arbus. First UK edition and impression from 1974 in VG condition. The book is near fine, pages clean, spine firm. The jacket has a small nick at the front bottom and some creasing to inside front flap, now in removable protective sleeve. Please see pictures. PayPal accepted, any questions please get in touch.
About Diane Arbus
So, published just after her untimely death in 1971, this book has achieved massive sales for a volume of such uncompromising photographs. Edited by Doon Arbus and Marvin Israel, its title implies a mere trawl through her best-known images. It is that, but it is also a brilliant exposé of American life. While it is true that she often photographed those outside society's norms. A more pertinent observation is that if she made 'normals' look like 'freaks', she also made 'freaks' look like 'normals'.
Furthermore, her exploration of normalcy was complicated by gender issues. In her aggressive, full-frontal 'exploitation' of her subjects, Arbus appropriated an essentially male convention: that of staring. Indeed, it may well be her assumption of this prerogative of masculine domination that has attracted much of the negative comment, compounded by her undercutting of gender stereotypes. She was a great feminist photographer. Her women and girls are invariably strong--like the confident twins [on the cover of the book]--and her men are frequently damaged or uncomfortable in their surroundings. -The Photobook: A History Volume I / Martin Parr and Gerry Badger. London: Phaidon, 2004.
