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Diane Arbus: Monograph

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New technology has made possible this lustrous new printing from all new film. These landmark images now have a clarity and depth not achievable in earlier editions.

182 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

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About the author

Diane Arbus

46 books176 followers
People best know portraits of prostitutes, transvestites, persons with physical deformities, and other unconventional subjects of American photographer Diane Arbus.

Diane Arbus noted dwarfs, giants, and ordinary citizens in poses and settings on the fringes of society.

Arbus used 35-mm cameras to create her early work but adopted the Rolleiflex medium format twin-lens reflex before the 1960s. This format provided a square aspect ratio, higher image resolution, and a waist-level viewfinder, not a standard eye, which allowed Arbus to connect in different ways. Arbus also experimented with the use of flashes in daylight, allowing her to highlight and separate from the background.

In July 1971, Arbus ingested a large quantity of barbiturates and then slashed her wrists to commit suicide in Greenwich Village at the age of 48 years.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
Profile Image for Adriana Scarpin.
1,737 reviews
February 17, 2021
Esse ano, em julho, fará 50 anos do suicídio da Diane Arbus e daqui dois anos será seu centenário. Uma das fotógrafas mais originais do século XX teve grande influência no cinema, de John Waters a Stanley Kubrick, além de expandir os conceitos estéticos da própria fotografia.
Profile Image for Bob Carroll.
75 reviews1 follower
August 31, 2009
Disturbing, haunting, affecting ... genius. Diane Arbus forces us to look at people we'd rather not look at if given the choice, and to think about 'differentness' we'd rather not think about in polite society. Yet like a car wreck and resulting gaper's block we can't look away. These people, and yes they are people, are today's lepers, shunned and banished from the mainstream - or worse. Her photographs, straight-on and unblinking and in un-flattering light, expose and magnify the flaws, awkwardness and differentness of her subjects. Yet we identify with these unfortunates who for the most part have been born with, and have to bear, a disability (or more politically correct, a challenge). We have our own flaws, awkwardness and differentness; we're just better at hiding them. But for the grace of God...
Profile Image for Steven Miljavac.
8 reviews
January 20, 2013
I have no doubt that Diane Arbus was a tremendously talented photographer. But this collection, and comparable collections by other influential photographers, seem to always have a few gems and then a bunch of filler that just look like simple snapshots. I guess you had to be there or something.
Profile Image for Lina.
119 reviews21 followers
June 19, 2025
Humanity through the lens of Diane Arbus ✨️
I wish there was some context to each photo because I know for a fact that Diane Arbus took the time to talk to the people she photographed. I really would've loved to have access to those conversations or maybe Diane's thoughts in retrospect. I guess I'm just greedy, and I really wanted more :(
Profile Image for Vanessa.
730 reviews110 followers
May 11, 2017
This is the 40th anniversary edition of a collection of Arbus's photos chosen after her death by her daughter Roon and her close friend Marvin Israel. The introduction is by Arbus herself, a pieced-together essay chosen from various sources including an interview with Studs Terkel and audio from a class she taught. The cobbled together origins explain why the text is interesting but fragmentary, yet it suits its subject-you can imagine Diane Arbus jumping from point to point in conversation as her enthusiasm moved her minute to minute. The 80 pictures selected are typically gorgeous (and sometimes simultaneously moving or, for lack of better words, pretty/ugly) and really beg for a magnifying glass so you can examine them closely. While Arbus was probably best known for photographing people on the fringes of polite society (carnies, drag queens, nudists), my favorite picture is probably the one of a widow in her bedroom with a subtle yet unmistakably heartbroken face surrounded by Buddhist art. There is so much going on in this picture that you could stare at it for days trying to digest everything in the frame and yet the execution appears effortless and light as a feather. I don't know how she did it, but when you look at her pictures you really are staring into its subject in an exhilheratingly intimate way. Among other things it makes me wonder, if Diane Arbus were to magically appear and ask to take my picture, would I say yes?

Some of the pictures were taken as late as 1971, the year Diane Arbus committed suicide at age 48. Reading the introduction, she was someone so curious and engaged with the world that it's hard to understand how she came to that end. She's a huge influence on modern photography, including the work of Cindy Sherman and Mary Ellen Mark for starters. This book is beautifully put together with fantastic reproductions of her pictures. Other than the text by Arbus herself at the beginning, the pictures and their titles do all the talking. It's just you and Diane Arbus, with neither guides nor filters.
Profile Image for Stacie.
276 reviews19 followers
April 25, 2013
Her subjects are often unusual (and many times nude). The intensity she captures in people's eyes is so powerful. You can't help but want to delve deeper, better understand their stories. From giants to little people, teen lovers to elderly nudists, the balance, curiosity, emotion, power that she depicts makes her one of the greats.

"For me the subject of the picture is always more important than the picture. And more complicated. I do have a feeling for the print but I don't have a holy feeling for it. I really think what it is, is what it's about. I mean it has to be of something. And what it's of is always more remarkable than what it is." - Diana Arbus
Profile Image for *JEN the booknerd*.
237 reviews52 followers
June 7, 2022
A very cool book with about 80 photographs from the 60's and 70's.
Profile Image for Julian Dunn.
380 reviews22 followers
October 6, 2024
I have long wanted to own a copy of this monograph from 1972 and I finally found an affordable one at Strand Books in New York City. There is not one single picture in here that is not hauntingly cringeworthy in some way and that is a testament to Diane Arbus’s unique genius. Some of these pictures must have been difficult to get, but others were likely fleeting and easy, but for all of them to share the same qualities is a testament to Arbus’ remarkable mastery of her craft. It’s devastating that she died to young, as such a talented person would have had decades of output ahead of her.
Profile Image for dv.
1,401 reviews60 followers
January 28, 2022
Ci sono autori letterari più citati che letti e forse su questo piano regge un parallelismo con Arbus, di cui si conoscono benissimo poche foto e molto meno bene molte altre. Questo è il suo capolavoro, opera imprescindibile che cambia il corso della fotografia. E ancora una volta va riconosciuto a Szarkowski di aver capito tutto quando presentò nel 1967 Arbus, Winogrand e Friedlander. La fotografia del futuro era tutta lì.
Profile Image for Mursalin Mosaddeque .
52 reviews38 followers
December 1, 2019
Exquisite. Beautiful. Haunting.
Diane Arbus' works portray the beautiful in the subliminal. A celebration of the diversity of life in ways human eyes have never perceived before.
Profile Image for Karan.
345 reviews6 followers
March 5, 2020
Love street photography, black and white. Interesting narrative, need to know more about Diane Arbus, and will go to the show at AGO before May!
Profile Image for Cristina.
98 reviews
June 30, 2022
I work from awkwardness. By that i mean i don't like to arrange things. If i standin front of something, instead of arranging it, i arrange myself.

I really believe there are things which nobody would see unless i photographed them
Profile Image for Amy.
1,106 reviews62 followers
February 18, 2017
Diane Arbus takes pictures of very intriguing subjects, and about five of those pictures actually stand out in this collection. When she gets one of those stand out shots, it's really exceptional. There are some pictures that are striking and jarring and breathtaking.
The rest are just not my cup of tea. Technically, the pictures are over exposed and some are riddled with marks from film development. Others are not composed well and could have been excluded from the collection. I feel like a body of work like this should display the gems and not try to catalogue every picture taken. Arbus feels more like a one hit wonder than an artist with a solid collection, and this book unfortunately highlights that.
Profile Image for Maureen.
726 reviews112 followers
August 31, 2009
I have the original hardcover edition of this book, which I bought in 1972. Diane Arbus came to Atlanta a year or so before her death and gave a talk at Nexus a photographers' collective, if I remember correctly. Over the years, I have returned to this book time and again, always surprised by the images. The book itself is exceptionally well-made, with beautiful reproductions of the photographs. I saw some of the photographs from this book at an exhibit two years ago, and they and this book have stood the test of time.
Profile Image for Alessandro Obinu.
1 review3 followers
January 9, 2022
Il fascino intramontabile delle fotografie di Diane Arbus in questa magnifica collezione. Una celebrazione assoluta della diversità unica nel suo genere. Veramente consigliato!
Profile Image for andrea.
52 reviews3 followers
Read
March 11, 2025
a classic monograph, to be sure-- the work is one thing, but the preface, in which diane arbus just talks about how and why she makes the work she does, another.
Profile Image for Matt.
44 reviews5 followers
November 8, 2021
Happily stumbled upon Diane Arbus while browsing the library catalog. Excellent portrait photography - something I’ve rarely cared for in my own exercises - with a resonant introductory essay full of quotables. The cover twins must be an inspiration for The Shining.

Marcos Valle’s album Previsão do Tempo enhanced the essay about exploring/pursuing/adapting to the unfamiliar. Mild High Club’s album Going Going Gone kept me company for the photographs.

Highlights from Arbus’s text:

“Nothing is ever the same as they said it was. It’s what I’ve never seen before that I recognize.”

“We’re nicer to each other than the intervention of the camera is going to make us. It’s a little bit cold, a little bit harsh.”

“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.”

“It just takes a minute, you learn how to do it, and then you’re a nudist. You may think you’re not but you are.”

“It always seemed to me that photography tends to deal with facts whereas film tends to deal with fiction.”

“I suppose a lot of these observations are bound to be after the fact. I mean they’re nothing you can do to yourself to get yourself to work. You can’t make yourself work by putting up something beautiful on the wall or by knowing yourself. Very often knowing yourself isn’t really going to lead you anywhere. Sometimes it’s going to leave you kind of blank.”

“Some pictures are tentative forays without your even knowing it. They become methods. It’s important to take bad pictures. It’s the bad ones that have to do with what you’ve never done before. They can make you recognize something you hadn’t seen in a way that will male you recognize it when you see it again.”

“I work from awkwardness. By that I mean I don’t like to arrange things. If I stand in front of something, instead of arranging it, I arrange myself.”

“The Chinese have a theory that you pass through boredom into fascination and I think it’s true. I would never choose a subject for what it means to me or what I think about it. You’ve just got to choose a subject, and what you feel about it, what it means, begins to unfold if you just plain choose a subject and do it enough.”

“The thing that’s important to know is that you never know. You’re always sort of feeling your way.”

“I’ve never taken a picture I’ve intended. They’re always better or worse.”
Profile Image for Jodi.
108 reviews8 followers
May 16, 2018
I have such mixed feeling about this collection and the way it was published. Firstly, the opening remarks by Arbus are all over the place. There are gems to be sure. But most of her words here were collected in a scrambled way that made little sense at times.

As for the collection, I am torn between being grateful for her ambition to photograph people who were not typically seen and the thought that she seems to have taken advantage of her subjects ... showing them in the harshest of light and composition. This does not sit well with me.

Maybe my thoughts will change and develop over time, but as a photography instructor, I have always found Arbus to straddle the line of ... is she famous because she’s tragic? Or is she famous because her work is deserving?
Profile Image for Sharon Barrow Wilfong.
1,135 reviews3,968 followers
November 26, 2017
Diane Arbus looked for life on the fringe. The quality of her photos is unquestionably superior, but her subject matter makes one feel as though they have entered a strange dream. This book is comprised of children with Downs Syndrome, transvestites, and members of a nudist colony. Arbus sought out a side to our reality that most ignore. I believe it was her intention to call the marginalized to our attention.
Profile Image for Grace Kao.
303 reviews26 followers
February 28, 2018
Sure, we’re gonna count this as “read” because I’m so woefully behind on my reading goals. This book is mainly one conversational essay with Arbus in the beginning and the rest is a photo essay. Many have argued over her choice of subjects, finding her work discomfortingly voyeuristic, but I find that Arbus seems to approach her subjects with generosity and respect. I’m actually eager to read a little more about her life and have picked up a biography as well.
Profile Image for Aly.
214 reviews4 followers
May 18, 2025
Arbus work and words can be extremely offensive, especially in today’s context or if you are someone who is part of the groups she would’ve categorized as “freaks”
I’ve been studying her work because I have so many questions about her as a photographer. Was she exploiting these groups? What was her motive? Does it matter? I want to learn more about her and about her work, but being an lgbtq person myself, it’s extremely hard to read some of the things she’d said.
Profile Image for Teresa.
68 reviews4 followers
May 30, 2021
Wow, some very powerful shots. Diane Arbus chose unusual subjects to photograph, but what could've come across as exploitative and voyeuristic, came across with empathy and regard for the beauty of the human spirit. Some are even tragically beautiful. The only downside was that I found some of the titles of the photographs were diminutive. A must for any artist's library.
Profile Image for brian tanabe.
387 reviews28 followers
December 3, 2007
I'm not quite knowledgeable on photography, but Arbus' work has always haunted me. This is a great monograph of her work. My 3 favorite pictures are: Child With a Toy Handgrenade in Central Park, Teenage Couple on Hudson Street, and A Jewish Giant At Home With His Parents in the Bronx.
Profile Image for Sarah.
Author 11 books370 followers
March 31, 2008
People are crazy about Diane Arbus and I like her but I'm not crazy about her. Still, as portraiture, she's very interesting. The twins on the cover are among the fabulous, and surely are what expired the Redrum twins in "The Shining."
29 reviews
December 31, 2025
Sinh năm 1985 mua Samsung A17 màu gì để hút may mắn và tài lộc?

Khi chọn mua một chiếc smartphone, ngoài yếu tố cấu hình, pin hay thiết kế, màu sắc hợp phong thủy ngày càng được nhiều người quan tâm. Đặc biệt với người sinh năm 1985, việc chọn đúng màu điện thoại không chỉ giúp đẹp mắt mà còn hỗ trợ vận khí, tài lộc và sự hanh thông trong công việc. Vậy sinh năm 1985 mua điện thoại Samsung A17 màu gì là phù hợp nhất? Hãy cùng phân tích chi tiết dưới góc nhìn phong thủy phương Đông kết hợp tư vấn công nghệ.

Người sinh năm 1985 thuộc mệnh gì? Vì sao màu sắc lại quan trọng?
Người sinh năm 1985 (Ất Sửu) thuộc mệnh Kim. Trong ngũ hành phong thủy:

Thổ sinh Kim → Màu thuộc hành Thổ mang lại nguồn năng lượng nuôi dưỡng, hỗ trợ tài lộc.
Kim hợp Kim → Màu cùng hành giúp tăng sự ổn định, tự tin và may mắn.
Hỏa khắc Kim → Màu thuộc hành Hỏa nên hạn chế để tránh suy giảm vận khí.


Người sinh năm 1985 mua Samsung A17 màu gì hợp phong thủy?

Điện thoại là vật dụng sử dụng mỗi ngày, tiếp xúc lâu dài, vì vậy chọn màu Samsung A17 hợp mệnh Kim được xem là cách đơn giản nhưng hiệu quả để gia tăng năng lượng tích cực.

Samsung A17 có những màu nào?
Hiện nay, Samsung A17 được phân phối với 3 màu sắc phổ biến, dễ lựa chọn:

Đen
Xám
Xanh dương


Màu sắc Samsung A17

Mỗi màu mang một phong cách riêng và cũng có ý nghĩa phong thủy khác nhau đối với người sinh năm 1985.

Phân tích chi tiết: Sinh năm 1985 mua Samsung A17 màu gì?
Việc chọn màu điện thoại không chỉ dừng lại ở thẩm mỹ mà còn ảnh hưởng trực tiếp đến vận khí và may mắn của người sử dụng, đặc biệt với người sinh năm 1985 mệnh Kim.

Samsung A17 màu Xám – Lựa chọn lý tưởng cho mệnh Kim
Màu Xám thuộc hành Kim, là màu tương hợp trực tiếp với người sinh năm 1985. Khi sử dụng màu này, người mệnh Kim thường cảm thấy:

Tinh thần ổn định, quyết đoán hơn
Công việc thuận lợi, ít gặp trở ngại
Thu hút năng lượng tích cực và tài lộc
Ngoài yếu tố phong thủy, Samsung A17 màu Xám còn mang phong cách hiện đại, sang trọng, dễ phối phụ kiện, rất phù hợp cho cả công việc lẫn sử dụng hằng ngày. Đây là màu nên ưu tiên số một.

Samsung A17 màu Đen – Phù hợp, an toàn, dễ sử dụng
Màu Đen thuộc hành Thủy. Theo phong thủy, Kim sinh Thủy, nên đây là màu không xung khắc, có thể sử dụng tốt với người mệnh Kim. Màu Đen mang lại:

Cảm giác chắc chắn, mạnh mẽ
Phong cách lịch lãm, ít lỗi mốt
Phù hợp với người thích sự đơn giản, bền bỉ

Samsung A17 màu Đen

Tuy không mang năng lượng tương hợp mạnh như màu Xám, nhưng Samsung A17 màu Đen vẫn là lựa chọn an toàn cho người sinh năm 1985.

Samsung A17 màu Xanh dương – Nên cân nhắc
Màu Xanh dương thuộc hành Thủy. Với người mệnh Kim, đây là màu trung tính, không xung khắc nhưng cũng không hỗ trợ phong thủy mạnh. Nếu bạn yêu thích màu này vì sự trẻ trung, năng động, vẫn có thể sử dụng, tuy nhiên nên kết hợp ốp lưng hoặc phụ kiện màu trắng, xám để cân bằng năng lượng.

Chọn đúng màu Samsung A17 mang lại lợi ích gì?
Việc chọn Samsung A17 hợp mệnh Kim giúp:

Tăng cảm giác tự tin, ổn định khi sử dụng lâu dài
Hỗ trợ công việc, tài chính và các mối quan hệ
Tạo sự thoải mái về mặt tinh thần mỗi ngày
Với người sinh năm 1985, màu sắc phù hợp chính là yếu tố phong thủy nhỏ nhưng tác động lớn.

Kết luận: Sinh năm 1985 mua Samsung A17 màu gì là tốt nhất?
Tóm lại, nếu bạn đang băn khoăn sinh năm 1985 mua Samsung A17 màu gì, thì:

Nên chọn: Xám (tương hợp mệnh Kim – tốt nhất)

Có thể chọn: Đen (an toàn, dễ dùng)

Cân nhắc: Xanh dương (không xấu nhưng ít hỗ trợ phong thủy)

Chọn đúng màu Samsung A17 không chỉ giúp chiếc điện thoại đẹp hơn mà còn gia tăng may mắn, tài lộc và năng lượng tích cực cho người sinh năm 1985 mệnh Kim – m��t lựa chọn thông minh cho cả hiện tại và lâu dài. Đồng thời, nếu bạn quan tâm Samsung A17 giá bao nhiêu , việc nắm rõ giá sẽ giúp bạn lên kế hoạch mua sắm phù hợp và đảm bảo tối ưu chi phí.
Profile Image for K.S. Thompson.
Author 3 books19 followers
April 11, 2023
I have had insomnia most of my life, so it's not at all unusual for me to discover things in the middle of the night that most people have never heard of. It was on one of these nights that I found myself watching "Fur: an imaginary portrait of Diane Arbus". I had seen a few of Diane's photos before, almost everyone has seen at least one of them. But I knew nothing at all about her. I was enchanted by the glimpse into her world (albeit an imagining and not based on true events).

I discovered this book at my local library and borrowed it. I renewed it twice and then finally read it because it was due back in two days with no option to keep it any longer. The text is written by Diane and offers some insight into her process, which I found rather interesting. It is accompanied by a collection of her photos, some of which I have seen before and some that are new to me. My favorite is "A Castle in Disneyland, Cal. - 1962". It is beautiful and haunting and somehow more real than the countless other images of that subject that I have seen.

I intend to read more books about both the artist and their work.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews

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