#boywithgrenade

Diane Arbus was also famous for her street photography. However, unlike Cartier-Bresson, she didn’t adopt the “Decisive Moment” technique, rather saw things in specific people that others didn’t, and asked them if she can photograph them. She had a high interest in street portraits with a medium, and through her pictures, we notice a repetition of certain qualities and effects taken on her previous pictures.

Her photos leave her readers feeling unease and somewhat, disturbed. The unusualness of her contexts and depiction of her victims, leave you puzzled with the relationship they shared. She focused on “capturing the space between who someone is, and who they think they are” (Arbus, 1968)

Uncentered subjects, tilted horizons, depth of field, increased flash and perfect carelessness were all somewhat recurrent features of her photographs. In addition, her subjects shared common features in the sense that they were all strange looking. The abundance of black and white settings also maybe tells us that colors are insignificant in the telling or representation of her subjects.

In her photo of a child with a grenade, her lack of concern with the surrounding context is noticeable. The boy stands relatively close to her with a weird facial expression, in a public space clasping onto a grenade (Why does he have one? How did he get it? How does SHE know him?) His suspender is slipped off his shoulder onto his arm, there is another figure directly behind him, and out of focus. The context seems overexposed, and there is a loss of detail towards the left hand side of the photo.  He stands still, a bit twisted to the side, and doesn't pose for the camera. The picture has such a natural, spontaneous vibe to it, yet feels too good to be natural, maybe somewhat, practiced.

Diane Arbus held a high level of interest in portraits, yet her chosen subjects were always unusual and imbalanced. She managed a perfect balance between such a carefully chosen subject and context, versus appearing spontaneous and representing the subject as they are, even behind a camera lens.