Diane Arbus might’ve been born into New York City’s high society, which was protected from the horrors of the Great Depression, but she preferred to live life on the fringe of it. There she met the subjects of her now-iconic portrait photography — “eccentrics” such as circus performers, people with developmental disabilities and addicts.
Arbus didn’t start out photographing these people, however. She and her husband, Allan, whom she wed when she was just 18, developed a shared interest in photography after he served as a photographer during World War II. When he returned, the couple shot fashion spreads for Arbus’s family’s department store, eventually having their work published in glossy magazines.
Having studied under photographers Berenice Abbott, Alexey Brodovitch and Lisette Model, Arbus then pursued her interest in documentary work in the 1950s, taking to the streets of New York to photograph strangers. By 1962, she was shooting from the waist with a medium-format camera. She didn’t want the camera to block her connection to her subjects, which were now the people marginalized by society rather than fashion models. “For me the subject of the picture is always more important than the picture. And more complicated,” Arbus explained.
Before her death by suicide in 1971, when she was just 48 years old, Arbus had achieved acclaim for her works such as Child With Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C. (1962) and Identical Twins, Roselle, N.J. (1967). She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1963 and 1966 and had her work shown in the monumental 1967 group exhibition “New Documents” at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Posthumously, her fame only broadened. MoMA put on a solo show for the artist in 1972, and, in the same year, Aperture published her first monograph.
Today, Arbus’s photographs are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, among many other institutions.
Find Diane Arbus photography on 1stDibs.
A House on a Hill, Hollywood CA
By Diane Arbus
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Diane Arbus A House on a Hill, Hollywood CA, 1963, printed later Signed by Doon Arbus & Neil Selkirk (printer) Gelatin silver print Image: 14-3/4" x 14-1/2", Paper: 20" x 16", Ma...
Silver Gelatin
Girl in a Shiny Dress, NYC
By Diane Arbus
Located in Saint Louis, MO
Diane Arbus Girl in a Shiny Dress, NYC, 1967 Gelatin silver print Image Dimensions: 14.5 x 14.5 inches (36.8 x 36.8 cm) Paper Dimensions: 20 x 16 inches ...
Silver Gelatin
Groom Kissing His Bride
By Diane Arbus
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Diane Arbus (1923-1971) is one of the most influential and daring photographers of the 20th century. Arbus is best known for her unique form of documentary portraiture. She explored the uncanny, the marginalized, and the idiosyncratic characters who defied mid-century conformity. Her work has influenced some of the most renowned photographers of our time including Nan Goldin. While her career launched in the fashion world, it was years after quitting commercial photography (circa 1956) that she found her voice as an artist. With camera in hand, she followed her fascination with the eccentric individuals and oddities of New York City. Ultimately rejecting her affluent, sheltered upbringing and the mainstream fashion industry to create her own definitions of beauty. Arbus’ portraits were considered incredibly provocative for their bold representations of sexuality, chaos, and grit. She fully immersed herself within the queer and alternative communities she documented, engaged with a curious balance of mystery and homage. Shot in 1966, "Groom Kissing His Bride" is a prime example of her uncanny ability to capture even the most traditional moments (a wedding) through a lens of surrealism. Love and tension confront each other as the groom kisses the bride with an attacking passion. Her likeness disappears behind his embrace and their newlywed bodies merge together. This work also contains Arbus’ visual trademarks – a black and white palette, a square crop, and a hard flash that flattens the aesthetic wonderland of New York. Today, Arbus' work is celebrated in many major museum collections including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Institute of Chicago, National Museum of Modern Art (Tokyo), and Centre Pompidou (Paris). "Groom Kissing his Bride, NYC" USA, 1966 Gelatin-silver print Printed by Neil Selkirk Stamped 'A Diane Arbus photograph...
Silver Gelatin
Price Upon Request
Untitled (17), black and white photographic portrait by Diane Arbus
By Diane Arbus
Located in New York, NY
Untitled (17), black and white photographic portrait by Diane Arbus Untitled (17) 1970-71/1990 Estate stamped and signed by Doon Arbus for the Estate of Diane Arbus, verso; Also ti...
Silver Gelatin
Price Upon Request
Camp Lakecrest campers as trees, Dutchess County, NY
By Diane Arbus
Located in New York, NY
Camp Lakecrest campers as trees, Dutchess County, NY 1968 Estate stamped and signed by Doon Arbus for the Estate of Diane Arbus, verso Gelatin silver...
Silver Gelatin
Price Upon Request
Puerto Rican woman with a beauty mark
By Diane Arbus
Located in New York, NY
Estate stamped and signed by Doon Arbus for the Estate of Diane Arbus, verso Gelatin silver print (Edition of 75) 20 x 16 inches, sheet 14.875 x 14.375 inches, image Contact galle...
Silver Gelatin
Price Upon Request
A young man and his girlfriend with hot dogs in the park, N.Y.C. 1971
By Diane Arbus
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print (Edition of 75) Estate stamped and signed by Doon Arbus for the Estate of Diane Arbus, verso Also titled, dated, and numbered in black ink, verso 20 x 16 inche...
Silver Gelatin
Price Upon Request
New York City, Widow in Her Bedroom, 55th St by Diane Arbus, Vintage Print
By Diane Arbus
Located in New york, NY
Widow in Her Bedroom, 55th St, NYC, 1963 by Diane Arbus is a vintage gelatin silver print. The subject, dressed in a shiny dress, is seated in a cluttered ...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Cranston Richie
By Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Located in New York, NY
From a portfolio of ten gelatin silver prints from original Meatyard negatives (1959-71) Printed April 1974 Edition of 130 Credit stamp, verso 7 x 7 inches, image 15 x 12 inches, mount This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. “This image probably owes some of its inspiration to the abnormal characters in the stories of Flannery O’Connor’s 1955 collection, "A Good Man is Hard to Find." But Meatyard was also looking at Giorgio de Chirico and the European Surrealists and here employs their penchant for the lifeless mannequin figure. A headless dressmaker’s dummy...
Silver Gelatin
Surfer with White Board
By Patrick Cariou
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print Signed, verso 24 x 20 inches, sheet 22 x 17 inches, image This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City.
Silver Gelatin
Bea with a whip at The Other Side
By Nan Goldin
Located in New York, NY
Nan Goldin Bea with a whip at The Other Side 1973 Gelatin silver print 14 x 11 inches; 36 x 28 cm Edition of 100 Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in graphite (lower right verso) ...
Silver Gelatin
$4,000
H 24 in W 20 in
Kate Moss During a Night Out, 2007 Silver Gelatin Print, Signed, 24x20
By Greg Brennan
Located in New York, NY
Kate Moss is photographed during a night out at the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden in London on the 16th of January in 2007. The British supermodel and businesswoman rose to fame ...
Silver Gelatin
$1,150
H 20.15 in W 23.75 in D 1 in
Mission San Xavier Del Bac, Tucson Arizona
By Huntington Witherill
Located in San Francisco, CA
This Photograph titled "Mission San Xavier Del Bac, Tucson Arizona" is a gelatin silver print by noted American photographer Huntington Witherill, born ...
Silver Gelatin
Mon Emmie - Topless In The Park
By Alli Wood
Located in Carmel, CA
Hand printed by artist Signed & Numbered Loose Print Printed to order
Silver Gelatin
$243
H 16.15 in W 21.26 in D 1.38 in
Belles of Shoreditch, The Whoopee Club, London - Burlesque Color Photography
By Richard Heeps
Located in Cambridge, GB
Belles of Shoreditch, from Richard Heeps Burlesque series. Richard Heeps became well-known for his Burlesque Photography after he spent 2003 ca...
Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Silver Gelatin
$1,300
H 11 in W 14 in
By The Museum, Signed Contemporary Silver Gelatin Print by Tod Papageorge
By Tod Papageorge
Located in Long Island City, NY
By The Museum is a gelatin silver print from On the Acropolis, a portfolio of 25 photographs by Tod Papageorge made on the Athenian Acropolis in the summers of 1983 and 1984. The ima...
Silver Gelatin
Kate Moss / Chloe
By Fabien Mara
Located in New York, NY
Fabien Mara Kate Moss / Chloe, 1990 Silver gelatin print 70 x 100 cm Edition of 17 Signed, numbered, and dated Fabien Mara lives and works in Paris. (French). His body of work m...
Silver Gelatin
Going Home
By Earlie Hudnall Jr.
Located in Denton, TX
Gelatin silver print Paper size: 20 x 16 in., Image size: 18 3/4 x 15 in. Signed, titled, and dated by Earlie Hudnall, Jr. Earlie Hudnall, who is one of the most notable African Ame...
Silver Gelatin
$1,200
H 11 in W 14 in
Group by Propylaea, Signed Contemporary Silver Gelatin Print by Tod Papageorge
By Tod Papageorge
Located in Long Island City, NY
Group by Propylaea is a gelatin silver print from On the Acropolis, a portfolio of 25 photographs by Tod Papageorge made on the Athenian Acropolis in the summers of 1983 and 1984. Th...
Silver Gelatin
Peek-A-Boo Beatles (1965) - Silver Gelatin Print
Located in London, GB
Peek-A-Boo Beatles (1937) - Silver Gelatin Print (Photo by R. McPhedran/Express/Getty Images) 14th June 1965: The British rock group The Beatles stand in a window at Twickenham Fil...
Black and White, Silver Gelatin
Tattooed Man at a Carnival
By Diane Arbus
Located in New York, NY
Diane Arbus, Tattooed Man at a Carnival 1970 Estate stamped and signed by Doon Arbus for the Estate of Diane Arbus, verso; Also titled, dated, and numbered, verso Gelatin silver pr...
Silver Gelatin
Diane Arbus "Woman with Headless Dummy" Photograph, 1956
By Diane Arbus
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Diane Arbus (1923-1971) is one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. Arbus is best known for her unique form of documentary photography. She explored the uncann...
Silver Gelatin
Diane Arbus "Woman with Headless Dummy" Photograph, 1956
By Diane Arbus
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Diane Arbus (1923-1971) is one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. Arbus is best known for her unique form of documentary photography. She explored the uncann...
Silver Gelatin
Muscle man contestant, N.Y.C.
By Diane Arbus
Located in New York, NY
Muscle man contestant, N.Y.C. 1968/printed later Estate stamped and signed by Doon Arbus for the Estate of Diane Arbus, verso Gelatin silver print (Editio...
Silver Gelatin
Girl in a Swimming Cap
By Diane Arbus
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Diane Arbus, American (1923 - 1971) Title: Girl in a Swimming Cap Year: 1970 (printed 1990) Medium: Gelatin Silver Print, stamped verso and signed...
Photographic Paper
Woman with Eyeliner, NYC
By Diane Arbus
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print (Edition of 75) Estate stamp, verso Also signed in ink by Doon Arbus, executor of the Estate of Diane Arbus, verso 20 x 16 inches, sheet size This artwork is ...
Silver Gelatin
Transvestite at Her Birthday Party
By Diane Arbus
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print (Edition of 75) Estate stamp in black ink, verso Also signed in ink by Doon Arbus, executor of the Estate of Diane Arbus, verso 20 x 16 inches, sheet size 14.5...
Silver Gelatin
Young couple on a bench in Washington Square Park, NYC
By Diane Arbus
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print (Edition of 75) Estate stamp in black ink, verso Also signed in ink by Doon Arbus, executor of the Estate of Diane Arbus, verso 20 x 16 inches, sheet size 14.5...
Silver Gelatin
3 FEMALE IMPERSONATORS
By Diane Arbus
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Diane Arbus(1923-1971) is one of the most influential and unique photographers of the 20th century. While her career began in the fashion world, completing a significant amount of...
Silver Plate
Girl and Boy in Wash Sq Park NYC
By Diane Arbus
Located in New York, NY
Girl and Boy in Wash Sq Park NYC, 1965 gelatin silver print stamped, signed, titled by Doon Arbus, Estate on verso 16 x 20 inches ed 75
Silver Gelatin
Two Girls in Matching Bathing Suits, NYC
By Diane Arbus
Located in New York, NY
Two Girls in Matching Bathing Suits, 1965 gelatin silver print stamped, signed, titled by Doon Arbus, Estate on verso 16 x 20 inches edition 75
Silver Gelatin
Blond Girl with Shiney Lipstick
By Diane Arbus
Located in New York, NY
Diane Arbus's photographs, which have permeated the popular imagination since the time of her death, rank among the most compelling images of the last half century. Arbus committed suicide in 1971. Two Friends at Home, is considered one of her most iconic works. Her "contemporary anthropology" – portraits of couples...