Rating: 
Summary: I read this book and found myself in it...literally.
Review: A friend working in bookstore asked why I'd never mentioned being in Diane Arbus' "book of freaks". Until that moment I didn't know but of course I knew she'd photographed me. (There's a hint!) It was without a doubt one of the most intense experiences of my life. That she often saw what others could not is reflected on every page. She called her subjects aristocrats. I think you must be one to see that quality in another. The photographs taken thirty years ago are timeless.Although the clothing, hairstyles and makeup are from a definite era (sixties) one can hardly imagine the subjects dressed any other way. Arbus has created a nation of anachronisms in her book. There is a definite sense of family, of community from page to page; from a Brooklyn bedroom to a Greenwich Village park bench to a lawn party at Willowbrook. Someone asked me how it felt to be in this "book of freaks". I couldn't answer then. But now I can: Even if your face is not on the pages of Monograph you will find yourself there. Just look.
Rating:
Summary: I read this book and found myself in it...literally.
Review: A friend working in bookstore asked why I'd never mentioned being in Diane Arbus' "book of freaks". Until that moment I didn't know but of course I knew she'd photographed me. (There's a hint!) It was without a doubt one of the most intense experiences of my life. That she often saw what others could not is reflected on every page. She called her subjects aristocrats. I think you must be one to see that quality in another. The photographs taken thirty years ago are timeless.Although the clothing, hairstyles and makeup are from a definite era (sixties) one can hardly imagine the subjects dressed any other way. Arbus has created a nation of anachronisms in her book. There is a definite sense of family, of community from page to page; from a Brooklyn bedroom to a Greenwich Village park bench to a lawn party at Willowbrook. Someone asked me how it felt to be in this "book of freaks". I couldn't answer then. But now I can: Even if your face is not on the pages of Monograph you will find yourself there. Just look.
Rating:
Summary: Our World in the Eyes of Diane Arbus
Review: A rather interesting, yet democratic photographer, Diane Arbus was an individual who was never afraid. She was a motivational and influential photographer whose life possessed no limits. Her subject matter was unique in that the pictures she took were on the abnormalities of life. These subjects centered mostly on freaks such as midgets, drag queens, giants, hookers, nudists, and drugees. Taking pictures such as these shows that she was a person who was never afraid to display the irregularities of life to the world around us. Diane Arbus lived life one day, one moment at a time. In this book, I get the feeling that her pictures show a meaning in the way she captured life, not just focusing on the photograph alone. Her subjects depicted on each page makes the viewer wonder how she got herself as well as her subjects in that position. Were they cooperative or not? Did she tell them to strike a pose or did they do it on their own? Each of her pictures in the book have a story behind it and some would seem more interesting than others. From her book, I see that the significance of her life and her photography is through this quote "The thing that's most important to know is that you never know. You're always sort of feeling your way."
Rating:
Summary: Simple, Brave, Beautiful !
Review: As Diane Aubus said, 'Nothing is ever the same as they said it was. It's what I've never seen before that recognize.' She liked to visit unknown places, taking photos for unknown people (transvestite, nudist campers, Jewish giant, twins, etc). Reading through this collection of portraits, it would be a discovery-like journeys. Her braveness to approach the subjects. and into their places, and then into their souls. Those people are sometimes not 'beautiful', but you can see the inner world of those people under their faces. The untitled series at the end of book taken with some retarded people, I found that is certainly striking. Finally she committed suicide in 1971, just like leaving an unresolved story ending in her works. If you are into B/W photos, it is a must buy.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining photography...
Review: Diane Arbus depicts the "off beaten path" part of society in the most glamorous way possible. She makes the socially unaccepted look completely relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera. I am very lucky to have stumbled upon this book of photographs by Diane Arbus - make yourself lucky also.
Rating:
Summary: DIANE ARBUS, THE BEST
Review: DIANE ARBÚS ES UNA DE LAS FOTÓGRAFAS MEJORES DEL PANORAMA SOCIAL AMERICANO. SE MANTIENE APARTADA DE LA COMPASIÓN QUE DEBERÍA APORTAR A SUS SUJETOS. SU MIRADA ES FRÍA Y DISTANCIADA. SE ALEJA DEL DOLOR Y EL REPOSO DE SUS SUJETOS HACEN EL RESTO. PARA MI UNA FENÓMANA
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant display of the fringe!
Review: Diane Arbus is my favorite photographer and this book displays why. Her photographs show life as it is, with diversity around every corner. The images are earie as the subjects seem to be standing right in front of you. That is credited to her technique of using a flash even in the daylight. I reccomend the 25th anniversary edition because of the better quality in the prints. Every photographer or art enthusiast needs this book in their collection!
Rating:
Summary: One of the 20th Century's most influential photo books
Review: My paperback copy of this book purchased back in the early/mid 1970's is frayed, folded and soiled from years of regular viewing. Yet every time I look at it, I continue to be amazed at these images. This is a classic book, ranking with Frank's "The Americans", Cartier-Bresson's "The Decisive Moment" and Eggleston's "William Eggleston's Guide". Before Arbus, there was no one. After Arbus, well...maybe there still is no one. This book opened the eyes of a whole future generation of photographers. The subject matter has now been over-exposed (pun intended). But, after all the pictures and all the picture makers who followed, no one presented the subject of people living off-center better than Arbus.
Rating:
Summary: Ultimately Inspiring
Review: Quite literally, this book made me want to be a photographer. I remember seeing this book at my aunt and uncle's house when I was quite young (maybe 5 or 6). Flipping its pages as an adult is quite an experience, but as a child I was equal parts totally enthralled, disturbed, confused and yet completely smitten. I remember becoming quite familiar with the book's many characters, and always looked at this book when I visited their house. When I started experimenting in photography in my mid-teens, I became re-aquainted with it from visiting bookstores and libraries, and through art history courses. Her images I think speak more about who she is than who her subjects are, but in a way that is brutally revealing. On the surface, these photographs represent a cross-section of fringe society, with all of its inherant complexity and grit. Cross dressers, midgets, nudists, drug addicts, "dancers" and the like. But they become quite revealing about her psyche during the period she was creating this amazing body of work.
She approaches each subject not at a distance, but with the sensitivity and affection of someone who really cares and is invested in these relationships. She lived with a few of these people, hung out with many others...it was the kind of company she prefered, even after being raised in a very wealthy Jewish family who owned a department store.
The images are confrontational, sensational, unnerving, and a little disturbing. And some have really become icons of modern photography (the boy holding the grenade, the triplets on their bed, and many more). But what really affected me the most was the exerps collected posthumously in the beginning of the book, in which Arbus describes her method and some of the mantras of her craft. There are so many powerful statements in this preface, all of which further support the understanding of her importance in the medium. Two of her most powerful statements: "You don't put into a photograph what's going to come out. Or vice versa, what comes out is not what you put in. I have never taken a picture I've intended. They're always better or worse." "I really believe there are things which nobody would see unless I photographed them." These statements really speak volumes about the responsibilty of an artist, and how everybody has a different slant about what's in front of them. Her words occasionally provide fuel for me to take initiative in my own work and take more risks and less excuses. Definately of of the finest groups of photographs in modern art history. Hugely influential and succesful, and totally unequalled in its genre (except maybe by Nan Goldin).
Rating:
Summary: Ultimately Inspiring
Review: Quite literally, this book made me want to be a photographer. I remember seeing this book at my aunt and uncle's house when I was quite young (maybe 5 or 6). Flipping its pages as an adult is quite an experience, but as a child I was equal parts totally enthralled, disturbed, confused and yet completely smitten. I remember becoming quite familiar with the book's many characters, and always looked at this book when I visited their house. When I started experimenting in photography in my mid-teens, I became re-aquainted with it from visiting bookstores and libraries, and through art history courses. Her images I think speak more about who she is than who her subjects are, but in a way that is brutally revealing. On the surface, these photographs represent a cross-section of fringe society, with all of its inherant complexity and grit. Cross dressers, midgets, nudists, drug addicts, "dancers" and the like. But they become quite revealing about her psyche during the period she was creating this amazing body of work.
She approaches each subject not at a distance, but with the sensitivity and affection of someone who really cares and is invested in these relationships. She lived with a few of these people, hung out with many others...it was the kind of company she prefered, even after being raised in a very wealthy Jewish family who owned a department store.
The images are confrontational, sensational, unnerving, and a little disturbing. And some have really become icons of modern photography (the boy holding the grenade, the triplets on their bed, and many more). But what really affected me the most was the exerps collected posthumously in the beginning of the book, in which Arbus describes her method and some of the mantras of her craft. There are so many powerful statements in this preface, all of which further support the understanding of her importance in the medium. Two of her most powerful statements: "You don't put into a photograph what's going to come out. Or vice versa, what comes out is not what you put in. I have never taken a picture I've intended. They're always better or worse." "I really believe there are things which nobody would see unless I photographed them." These statements really speak volumes about the responsibilty of an artist, and how everybody has a different slant about what's in front of them. Her words occasionally provide fuel for me to take initiative in my own work and take more risks and less excuses. Definately of of the finest groups of photographs in modern art history. Hugely influential and succesful, and totally unequalled in its genre (except maybe by Nan Goldin).
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