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
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
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
Joan and Quintana Roo (Frame 27a.)
By Julian Wasser
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes free shipping for unframed prints and a 14 day return policy. Joan Didion by Julian Wasser 20 x 16 inch gelatin silver print Edition 3 of 15 Signed on verso by Julian Wasser *Please inquire for international shipments. Quotes will be provided at cost via FedEx. Description - Julian Wasser started his career in photography in the Washington DC bureau of the Associated Press where he met and accompanied the famous news photographer Weegee – who would become a lasting influence on him. In the mid-60s Wasser moved to Los Angeles as a contract photographer for TIME, LIFE, and FORTUNE magazines and becoming internationally known as the go to guy for getting candid but memorably composed photographs. (His iconic images of Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston; Marcel Duchamp and Eve Babitz; and a young Jodie Foster are already classics.) In 1968 TIME Magazine assigned Wasser to go to the home of the young writer Joan Didion whose book Slouching Towards Bethlehem was becoming a literary sensation. “I’d read her fiction,” said Wasser. “and she didn’t miss a thing. She was such a heavyweight person.” Wasser shot Didion at her rented house on Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, where she lived with her husband, the writer John Gregory Dunne, and their daughter, Quintana Roo. “It was a nice, cozy house,” Wasser remembers. “And she was a very easy person to talk to...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Untitled Portrait
By Seydou Keïta
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes framing with UV Plexi ($900 value), free shipping, and a 14-day return policy. Seydou Keïta Untitled Portrait, 1952 - 1955 (02158) 23...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Ted Higby at Skyline Rodeo, 1928
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes framing with UV plexiglas, free shipping and a 14 day return policy. Ted Higby at Skyline Rodeo, 1928 15 x 12 inch gelatin silver print Image Size: 14 x 8.5 inches Frame size: 22.5 x 17.5 x 2 inches Edition of 15 Lora Webb Nichols was born in 1883 and grew up in the small mining town of Encampment, Wyoming. At the age of 16 Lora received her first camera and from that moment and for the next few decades she produced work that is both stunning in its singular voice and revealing in the world it opens up for us. At first Nichols photographed her family, friends, and the landscape around Encampment, but when the town experienced a copper mining boom Nichols expanded her scope to become a photographer for hire shooting portraits and industrial photographs. When the boom collapsed, Nichols took the risk of opening her own business in Encampment - The Rocky Mountain Studio - which opened in 1925. The studio ran for ten years, accumulating 24,000 negatives that illustrate the lives and environment of the people living in and around the town while creating a distinctive and surprising body of work. If one was to attempt an analogy – Nichols’ pictures fit somewhere between Lartigue and Lange - joyful and generous while objectively intimate. In particular what seems to distinguish Nichols’ work is the way she sees the world from a female perspective. As Vince Aletti...
Silver Gelatin
$5,000
H 11 in W 14 in
Eve Babitz and Marcel Duchamp playing chess during Duchamp's Pasadena Art Museum
By Julian Wasser
Located in New York, NY
Listing is for an unframed print and includes free shipping to the continental US and 14-day return policy. Julian Wasser Eve Babitz and Marcel Duchamp pl...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$4,748
H 30 in W 20 in
Catherine Zeta-Jones (Limited Edition of 25) - Celebrity Photography
Located in New York, NY
This 1991 fine art print features Catherine Zeta-Jones when she was a TV actress in Britain and aspiring to be a Hollywood Star. Her success in The Darling Buds of May (English comed...
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
$4,501Sale Price|48% Off
H 15.75 in W 17.72 in D 0.79 in
"Natalia Makarova " vintage "Serge Lifar " collection
Located in CANNES, FR
"Natalia Makarova " is an gelatin print , silver bromide, numbered and signed photograph offered to " serge Lifar " by Max Waldman . Artist proof . Ser...
Silver Gelatin
$1,628
H 24 in W 20 in
Jane March (Limited Edition of 25) - 20x24 In. - Celebrity Photography
Located in New York, NY
This fine art print features actress and model Jane March, posed topless on the rooftop of the Hotel Le Bristol in Paris in 1992. This risqué iconic b...
Silver Gelatin
$6,512Sale Price|20% Off
H 40 in W 30 in
Liz Hurley (Limited Edition of 25) - Celebrity Photography - 30x40 Print
Located in New York, NY
Elizabeth Hurley photographed by British celebrity and fashion photographer John Stoddart. This risqué iconic black and white photograph expresses her incredible figure, capturing the actress completely naked, against the head of a large Grecian bust...
Silver Gelatin
$1,635Sale Price|20% Off
H 20 in W 24 in
Daniel Craig Contact Sheet (Limited Edition of 25) - Celebrity Photography
Located in New York, NY
This is a 2002 contact sheet (a positive print of all the negative images from a roll of 35mm film or medium format film) of youthful-looking Daniel Craig...
Silver Gelatin
$3,516
H 15.75 in W 11.82 in
The Hair Willy Ronis Humanist black and white photography woman naked nude
By Willy Ronis
Located in Paris, FR
Willy Ronis is one of the most famous members of the French Humanist photography. Silver print on photographic paper Hand-signed by the artist lower right Stamp of the artist's stud...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$4,087
H 40 in W 30 in
Jane March (Limited Edition of 25) - 30"x40" Celebrity Photography
Located in New York, NY
This fine art print features actress and model Jane March, posed topless on the rooftop of the Hotel Le Bristol in Paris in 1992. This risqué iconic b...
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
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...
Woman with eyeliner, N.Y.C.
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...