Diane Arbus Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

This paper is a study of a book of Western photographs by the contemporary photographer Richard Avedon. While Avedon is probably best known for his magazine work and his photographs of the rich and famous, In the American West is his... more

This paper is a study of a book of Western photographs by the contemporary photographer Richard Avedon. While Avedon is probably best known for his magazine work and his photographs of the rich and famous, In the American West is his attempt to reinterpret and redefine the Western myth. He shows us the West through portraits of people who live there, specifically those who are the most unfortunate--the underprivileged, disenfranchised and the bizarre. By depicting the West as a bleak and barren environment that does not reward its inhabitants, Avedon demonstrates his awareness of myths of the West that extolled it as the land of new wealth, social harmony and progress. And by choosing to illustrate his West through images, Avedon steps in the tracks of artists like Edward Curtis who set out to document North American Indians in the nineteenth century.

For this specific assignment I chose to discuss the work of a photographer called Diane Arbus. Her work plays out issues of identity. I chose to investigate how such representation challenge the notions of identity and representation in... more

For this specific assignment I chose to discuss the work of a photographer called Diane Arbus. Her work plays out issues of identity. I chose to investigate how such representation challenge the notions of identity and representation in our society.

When researching in the topic of twins in contemporary photography, Diane Arbus’s Triplets in Their Bedroom, N.J. 1963 and the iconic Identical Twins, Roselle, N.J. 1967 are unavoidable. As Diane Arbus did not have a twin sister either,... more

When researching in the topic of twins in contemporary photography, Diane Arbus’s Triplets in Their Bedroom, N.J. 1963 and the iconic Identical Twins, Roselle, N.J. 1967 are unavoidable. As Diane Arbus did not have a twin sister either, one might suppose that twins are being interpreted as a single entity in her photographs. In the followings, her attitude of depicting twins is explored from three different point of views; from a formalist, a psychological and a biographical approach.

Sontag’s collection of essays On Photography (1977) identifies the photographic gaze as a way of experiencing and defining reality through a controversial mix of fragmentation and desire of totalization, which is typical of capitalistic... more

Sontag’s collection of essays On Photography (1977) identifies the
photographic gaze as a way of experiencing and defining reality through a
controversial mix of fragmentation and desire of totalization, which is typical of capitalistic societies. Different visual languages of the global modernity show that our perception of reality is constructed by giving us an immense amount of visual experience. If post-Fordist culture has reinforced an addictive attitude towards the production-consumption of images, we can nonetheless recognize and empower our capability to assign them unforeseen meanings, for instance through processes of cognitive estrangement. The final part of this article compares Sontag’s perspective on the photographic construction of reality to Mark Fisher’s notion of “capitalist realism”. By doing this, I explore the possibility of a critical kind of photographic conscience, based on the weird effects of experiencing reality through the filter of a camera, which is particularly evident in Diane Arbus’ body of works.

This paper describes the photographic heritage of Diane Arbus in the context of visual overcoming and transformation of the norm. Interest in what most people would call outcasts, misfits and freaks as an accepted theme of the underground... more

This paper describes the photographic heritage of Diane Arbus in the context of visual overcoming and transformation of the norm. Interest in what most people would call outcasts, misfits and freaks as an accepted theme of the underground culture finds a new semiotic interpretation in the artist's work. Inspired by Tod Browning's cult horror movie Freaks (1932), which featured an array of marginalized physical disabilities, Arbus creates her own freaks gallery (A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx, N.Y., 1970, Mexican dwarf in his hotel room in N.Y.C., 1970, A naked man being a woman, N.Y.C., 1968 etc.), in which she tries to overcome the stereotypes and prejudices in perceiving Otherness. By refusing classic voyeuristic position of the observer, the artist shortens the distance between the Author and the Character, transforming the visual notions and icons of traumatic experience, decomposing the concept of the norm. Strong personal relationships between the artist and her models remove any tension and moral disgust. The full-face photos of the freaks and strong narrative author's statement indicate models' autonomous normalcy. Arbus' particular outlook allows the viewer to rethink the very concept of flaw, which is fixed with the camera and the artist's imperturbable common sense. She is not just gazing at the social outcasts, weird and wonderful characters, but trying to get acquainted with them, to respect the otherness of the other. Her camera removes taboos from the forbidden and shocking social and cultural themes. The photographer does not exploit low-lying human emotions. Through the visual representation of dismembered bodies in varying levels of intimacy, she finds true Beauty, rethinking modern ethical and aesthetic norms.

Vasil'eva E. Susan Sontag on Photography: the Idea of Beauty and the Problem of Norm. // Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Serija 15. Iskusstvovedenie (Bulletin of St. Petersburg University. Series 15. Art Criticism). 2014. N. 3.... more

In “Sontag’s Captions: Writing the Body from Riefenstahl to S & M,” Bonita Rhoads considers how Susan Sontag altered her aesthetic convictions in response to her evolving writer’s conscience and produced some of the most indelible... more

In “Sontag’s Captions: Writing the Body from Riefenstahl to S & M,” Bonita Rhoads considers how Susan Sontag altered her aesthetic convictions in response to her evolving writer’s conscience and produced some of the most indelible commentaries of her generation. Her scathing critique of Leni Riefenstahl continues to set the standard of criticism of the Nazi-friendly director despite Sontag’s own little-acknowledged mitigation of her excoriating essay “Fascinating Fascism” several years later. Rhoads’s essay establishes Sontag’s condemnation of Riefenstahl’s “fascist aesthetics” as a turning point in her growth as a woman of letters, elucidating how that oft-cited critique reveals not only Sontag’s ideological transformation, but also her response to the sexual revolution just as it was shifting from the heady idealism of the 60s to the garish affectations and irreverent fads of the 70s.

About the picture "Sharon in the River" (1995) by Nan Goldin

Arbus’un çocukluğunda, korkmasına rağmen pencere pervazına çıkarak aşağı baktığı söylenir, Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus filminde de bir sahnede bunu izleriz. Arbus’un hilkat garibelerini fotoğraflaması da korkularını aşmak... more

Arbus’un çocukluğunda, korkmasına rağmen pencere pervazına çıkarak aşağı baktığı söylenir, Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus filminde de bir sahnede bunu izleriz. Arbus’un hilkat garibelerini fotoğraflaması da korkularını aşmak adına yüksek bir yerden aşağıya bakmasına benzetilebilir. Balazs’ın sözlerini hatırlayacak olursak, uçurum her ne kadar baş dönmesinin nedeni olsa da, baş dönmesinin bir yüzdeki ifadesinin açıklamasını veremez. Arbus’un fotoğraflarındaki yüzlere bakmak da bir nevi uçuruma bakmak gibidir içinde derin, yüzleşilmemiş korkuları da tecessüsü de barındırır. Bu biraz da Arbus’un fotoğraflarındaki kahramanlarının gözlerinin içine bakma biçimidir ya da başka bir ifadeyle bütün dikkati ile kendi gözlerinin içine bakma.

Diane Arbus’un fotoğrafladığı bedenler bir nevi Medusa gibi bakışın belirsizliğinin üzerine sindiği, karanlık bir gölgeyle çevrelenmiş ucube bedenlerdir: ama onlar sürreal bir şekilde artık mitolojinin değil modern kentin içinde Arbus’un... more

Diane Arbus’un fotoğrafladığı bedenler bir nevi Medusa gibi bakışın belirsizliğinin üzerine sindiği, karanlık bir gölgeyle çevrelenmiş ucube bedenlerdir: ama onlar sürreal bir şekilde artık mitolojinin değil modern kentin içinde Arbus’un kadrajıyla hayali ile hakikat arasındaki ince sınırda varlık bulurlar, adeta görünür olurlar. Arbus, kent labirentinin içinde tekinsiz mekanlarda onları gizli köşelerinden çekip çıkararak adeta tarihi optikleştirir.

"Diane Arbus. Patroness of Misfits". Sumaryczny tekst przybliżający sylwetkę i twórczość amerykańskiej fotografki, Diane Arbus.

Fransız yazar ve filozof Albert Camus (1913-1960) varoluşçuluk ile ilgilenip intiharın gerçekliğini ele alırken, XIX. yüzyıl Fransasının bir buluşu olan fotoğraf ise halka mâl edilip bir tür gerçekliğin vizyonu olmuştur. İntihar ile... more

Fransız yazar ve filozof Albert Camus (1913-1960) varoluşçuluk ile ilgilenip intiharın gerçekliğini ele alırken, XIX. yüzyıl Fransasının bir buluşu olan fotoğraf ise halka mâl edilip bir tür gerçekliğin vizyonu olmuştur. İntihar ile varoluşçu gerçeklik, hayatın dramatize edemediği nesnel bir sürecin izlenimini yaratmaktadır. Fotoğraf ile olan ilişkimizde hayatın ne kadar yaşamaya değer ya da ne kadarının dayanılmaz olduğu konusunda hep bir varoluşçu gerçeklik izlenimini aramaktayız.

This paper consists of five sections: (1) introduction; (2) a section about Max Brod’s theory of beauty and Kafka’s critical reply to it, and the account of his philosophical inspirations as well as the story of Brod’s and Kafka’s... more

This paper consists of five sections: (1) introduction; (2) a section about Max Brod’s theory of beauty and Kafka’s critical reply to it, and the account of his philosophical inspirations as well as the story of Brod’s and Kafka’s affiliation to the Louvre Circle; (3) a section on Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” and the role novelty plays in this story supplemented with an ethical context taken from Brentano; (4) a section in which I analyse this story both as a horror and comedy, and where I introduce a very Kafkaesque photographer – Diane Arbus; finally, (5) a section about the relationship between Kafka and Brod which also serves as closing remarks and summing-up. The research was financed from the assets awarded by The National Science Centre in Krakow for the postdoctoral internship upon the decision no. DEC-2013/08/S/HS1/00184/2. Keywords : Franz Kafka; Max Brod; Franz Brentano; Diane Arbus; Metamorphosis; America; prose; aesthetics; Vorstellung; intentionality; biography; photogr...

This paper consists of five sections: (1) introduction; (2) a section about Max Brod’s theory of beauty and Kafka’s critical reply to it, and the account of his philosophical inspirations as well as the story of Brod’s and Kafka’s... more

This paper consists of five sections: (1) introduction; (2) a section about Max Brod’s theory of beauty and Kafka’s critical reply to it, and the account of his philosophical inspirations as well as the story of Brod’s and Kafka’s affiliation to the Louvre Circle; (3) a section on Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” and the role novelty plays in this story supplemented with an ethical context taken from Brentano; (4) a section in which I analyse this story both as a horror and comedy, and where I introduce a very Kafkaesque photographer – Diane Arbus; finally, (5) a section about the relationship between Kafka and Brod which also serves as closing remarks and summing-up.

This paper describes the photographic heritage of Diane Arbus in the context of visual overcoming and transformation of the norm. Interest in what most people would call outcasts, misfits and freaks as an accepted theme of the underground... more

This paper describes the photographic heritage of Diane Arbus in the context of visual overcoming and transformation of the norm. Interest in what most people would call outcasts, misfits and freaks as an accepted theme of the underground culture finds a new semiotic interpretation in the artist's work. Inspired by Tod Browning's cult horror movie Freaks (1932), which featured an array of marginalized physical disabilities, Arbus creates her own freaks gallery (A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx, N.Y., 1970, Mexican dwarf in his hotel room in N.Y.C., 1970, A naked man being a woman, N.Y.C., 1968 etc.), in which she tries to overcome the stereotypes and prejudices in perceiving Otherness. By refusing classic voyeuristic position of the observer, the artist shortens the distance between the Author and the Character, transforming the visual notions and icons of traumatic experience, decomposing the concept of the norm. Strong personal relationships between the artist and her models remove any tension and moral disgust. The full-face photos of the freaks and strong narrative author's statement indicate models' autonomous normalcy. Arbus' particular outlook allows the viewer to rethink the very concept of flaw, which is fixed with the camera and the artist's imperturbable common sense. She is not just gazing at the social outcasts, weird and wonderful characters, but trying to get acquainted with them, to respect the otherness of the other. Her camera removes taboos from the forbidden and shocking social and cultural themes. The photographer does not exploit low-lying human emotions. Through the visual representation of dismembered bodies in varying levels of intimacy, she finds true Beauty, rethinking modern ethical and aesthetic norms.

In John Waters’ Pecker (1998), an amateur young photographer is discovered by a New York art dealer and becomes an overnight sensation in the art world. When he is recognized as an artist, however, the spontaneous snapshots he used to... more

In John Waters’ Pecker (1998), an amateur young photographer is discovered by a New York art dealer and becomes an overnight sensation in the art world. When he is recognized as an artist, however, the spontaneous snapshots he used to take -of his abnormal friends and relatives, of his local striptease and gay clubs, of Baltimore’s buses, fast-food joints and alleys- are no longer accessible to him. Surreptitiously alluding to the photography of Diane Arbus and Nan Goldin, Pecker illustrates conflicts between taste, class, and distinction. Drawing on the work of Pierre Bourdieu, I argue that the film shows how taste organizes the social world and parodies the ways in which outsider art constitutes a type of social capital. Through textual analysis, this article argues that Pecker illustrates Baltimore as a queer site and explores the meta-reflectivity of the text, as Pecker’s art mirrors Waters’ authorship. Pecker represents, I argue, an interesting case study to comprehend Waters’ humour and operations of taste and authorship in the lesser known and studied years of his filmmaking career (post Hairspray 1988).