Diane Arbus

Norman Mailer, Newsweek NY, have commented on this image: Giving a camera to Diane Arbus is like putting a live grenade in the hands of a child.

What do you think he ment by it?

Just some background on Diane's early life:

The American photographer Diane Nemerov Arbus (1923-1971) specialized in photographs of nontraditional subjects,
including gays, the physically challenged, circus performers, and nudists.

Diane Arbus was born Diane Nemerov on March 14, 1923. The daughter of a wealthy New York businessman (the
family owned Russeks department store on Fifth Avenue), Arbus led a pampered childhood. Being a member of a
prominent New York family, she grew up with a strong sense of what was "acceptable" and what was "prohibited" in
polite society. Her world was a protected one in which she never felt adversity, yet it seemed to her to be an unreal
world. Ludicrous as it may seem, the sense of being "immune" from hardship was painful for her. An extremely shy
child, Arbus was often fearful but told no one of her fantasies. Her closest relationship was with her older brother,
Howard.

From the seventh through the twelfth grade Arbus attended Fieldstone School in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, a
part of the Ethical Culture educational system. Here she became interested in myths, ritual, and public spectacle, ideas
which would later inform her photography. At Fieldstone she also devoted much time and energy to art class--painting,
sketching, and working in clay. During this period of her life Arbus and several of her friends began exploring New York
on their own, getting off the subway in unfamiliar areas of Brooklyn or the Bronx, observing and following interesting or
unusual passersby.

At the age of 14 Diane met Allan Arbus, a 19-year-old City College student who was employed in the art department at
Russeks. It was love at first sight. Her parents disapproved, but this only served to heighten Diane's resolve to marry
him as soon as she came of age. In many ways, Allan represented an escape from all that was restricting and
oppressive in her family life. They were married in a rabbi's chambers on April 10, 1941, with only their immediate
families present.