First published 2018
Diane Arbus generated intense fascination like Frida Kahlo, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Virginia Woolf through both her art and her life. Her striking photographic images of dwarfs, twins, transvestites, circus performers, and unusual subjects demolished conventional notions of normal and abnormal, securing a permanent place in the iconography of her era. While interest in her work grew steadily after her death, the mystery surrounding her extraordinary life remained intact until now. Bosworth's biography examines the life behind Arbus's captivating images. The book reveals her privileged New York childhood, her passionate marriage to photographer and actor Alan Arbus, and their collaborative work in fashion photography. It exposes her experiences as mother and wife, and the emotional turmoil that accompanied her marriage's collapse. The narrative particularly focuses on how her art shifted toward darker, more liberating, and deeply tragic territory during the 1960s. Bosworth creates a unique portrait of a woman who battled both depression and her surrounding society while producing some of the most powerful and original photographs of our time.
Genres: biography, art, 20th-century, social-issues, photography
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: outsiders, unconventional-lives
Setting: New York
Period: 1960s
504 pages · Paperback · Everest Yayınları
Content warnings: depression, mental-illness