As somewhat of a continuation on my previous post in which I discussed the work of Nan Goldin, I would like to explore the photography of Diane Arbus, an additional photographer/artist who also works with themes that closely relate to those of the Hellenistic period of art.
Arbus is an American photographer who was best known for her pieces that centered on unusual people such as dwarfs, giants, transgendered figures, nudists, and circus performers. She captured her best known photographs beginning in the 1950s and continued to work until the late 1960s/early 1970s. In 1971, at the age of 48, Arbus committed suicide.
As a photographer, Arbus was attracted to people whose normality gave them an appearance that most would generally consider to be ugly, alarming, and unattractive. Her interest in disfigured and unusual subjects stemmed from a desire to expose the differences between what people wanted or expected to see, and what reality actually presented. She focused on the flaws of others and deviated extensively from the overly-accentuated and often unattainable ideals of beauty, established by society. This desire for idealized beauty and perfection can in many ways, be directly traced back to the ancient Greeks.
Diane Arbus- Left: Mexican dwarf in his hotel room, New York, 1970; Right: A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx, New York, 1970
(Image(s) Source: http://www.boumbang.com/diane-arbus/)
Essentially, this is the factor that best connects Diane Arbus and her photographic works to the Hellenistic age. Like the artists who were making pieces during that time, Arbus had a deep-rooted interest in those people who existed at the marginals of society. They too wished to stray from what was normally portrayed in the arts and to the public in general, especially those who made what are known as the Hellenistic Grotesques. Hellenistic artists began to explore curiosities in nature, such as those with both male and female genitalia, or hermaphrodites. As I mentioned earlier, Arbus worked with transgendered subjects in some of her pieces. Parallels between Arbus’s photographs and Hellenistic art works are very apparent when one views the works in comparison.
Borghese Hermaphroditus
(Image Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Borghese_Hermaphroditus_Louvre_Ma231.jpg/640px-Borghese_Hermaphroditus_Louvre_Ma231.jpg-)
Diane Arbus- Hermaphrodite and Dog in a Carnival Trailer
(Image Source: http://theauberginecoat.wordpress.com/2012/10/26/diane-wie-u-mag-kiezen/)
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