ARTIST ROOMS: Diane Arbus

14 rooms in Artist and Society

Stark portraits taken in the 1960s and early 1970s draw attention to the relationship between photographer and subject

Diane Arbus was a photographer who lived and worked in New York City. She was born into an affluent family who owned a department store on Fifth Avenue. At the age of 18 she married Allan Arbus, and he gave her a camera in 1941. The couple worked together for a decade, he as photographer, she as stylist, producing photographs for fashion magazines.

Their collaboration ended in 1956 when she left the partnership and began seriously pursuing the work for which she has come to be known.

Arbus said when she first started photography, since there were so many people in the world, she thought she should capture a kind of ‘generalised human being’. Instead, her teacher, the renowned photographer Lisette Model suggested: ‘the more specific you are, the more general it'll be.’ Arbus's interest in photographing all kinds of people led her to create a compelling and complex portrait of society.

In 1962, Arbus started using a twin-lens reflex Rolleiflex camera.

Held at waist level, its bulky size meant her subjects always knew their picture was being taken. Arbus often befriended and collaborated with her sitters, giving them the space to present themselves as they wished.

Her approach divided critics and audiences: some found it exploitative, others compassionate. For Arbus, clarity of detail was paramount – she illuminated with equal intensity the uniqueness of all her subjects.

Tate Modern
Natalie Bell Building Level 2 West
Room 11

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Diane Arbus, Identical twins, Roselle, N.J. 1966 1966

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Diane Arbus, Identical twins, Roselle, N.J. 1966 1966

Diane Arbus, Untitled (6) 1970-71 1970–1, printed after 1971

Diane Arbus, Untitled (19) 1970-71 1970–1, printed after 1971

Diane Arbus, Retired man and his wife at home in a nudist camp one morning, N.J. 1963 1963

Diane Arbus, A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx, N.Y. 1970 1970

Diane Arbus, Untitled (25) 1970-71 1970–1, printed after 1971

Diane Arbus, Boy with a straw hat waiting to march in pro-war parade, N.Y.C. 1967 1967

Diane Arbus, A young man in curlers at home on West 20th Street, N.Y.C. 1966 1966

Diane Arbus, Mexican dwarf in his hotel room, N.Y.C. 1970 1970

Diane Arbus, A young Brooklyn family going for a Sunday outing, N.Y.C. 1966 1966

Diane Arbus, A family on their lawn one Sunday in Westchester, N.Y. 1968 1968

Diane Arbus, Untitled (7) 1970-71 1970–1, printed after 1971

Diane Arbus, Untitled (14) 1970-71 1970–1, printed after 1971

Diane Arbus, The King and Queen of a Senior Citizens’ Dance, N.Y.C. 1970 1970

Diane Arbus, Five children in a common room, N.J. 1969 1969, printed after 1971

Diane Arbus, Xmas tree in a living room in Levittown, L.I. 1962 1962

Diane Arbus, A very young baby, N.Y.C. 1968 1968, printed after 1971

Diane Arbus, Masked woman in a wheelchair, Pa. 1970 1970, printed after 1971

Diane Arbus, Untitled (1) 1970-71 1970–1, printed after 1971

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