1 - Creating a Pinterest board
I started my research on Diane Arbus by creating a Pinterest board of her work. This includes her different styles of photography and her experimentations. Whilst some appealed to me and some did not, I tried to get a healthy mix of both what did and didn't appeal to me.
↓ Click here to view my Pinterest Board. ↓
2. Secondary Research
During and after the process creating a Pinterest board of the work of Diane Arbus, I didn't really feel an appreciation for her work. In fact, I found many of her images were quite difficult to look at; they are not aesthetically pleasing, but in fact quite the opposite.
Because I felt I didn't understand her work, I decided to try and do some secondary research on her work. After a while browsing, my search led me to a 30 minute "Masters of Photography" documentary which watched and took notes on.
Masters of Photography - Diane Arbus (Documentary, 1972)
Source: Vimeo - Baboon Nation (Masters of photography - Diane Arbus (documentary, 1972) on Vimeo)
3. Technical macro-analysis
Whilst I did state that Diane Arbus seems to have a somewhat limited understanding of how the camera itself is operated, and so the technical aspects are unimportant, I have noticed one consistent theme within all of her photos.
Whether intentional or accidental, her photos are almost always slightly underexposed or rather heavily contrasted. This is a trait commonly seen within classic monochrome horror films and was done most famously by Alfred Hitchcock in the films 'Murder!' and 'Psycho.'
Whilst working as a photographer for look magazine, Stanley Kubrick crossed paths with Diane Arbus. Whilst not confirmed by any party involved, the work of Diane Arbus was quite clearly an inspiration to some particularly famous shots of 'The Shining' in 1980.
On the left - Diane Arbus
On the right - 'The Shining'
On the left - Diane Arbus
On the right - 'The Shining'
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQjXwpmSeHLcIoU2zwMydFQihO3Qf9Y3_KqjrYFzgRc3IvMWujS_eiGxb9EWd1PoS8M9ttqGF2jrdQuApsAtNEfqx2ozHhxSvmU04UZMUyXrf1VwzQDIvX01vYvbrwnmz1XnDUgNInHrk/w540-h260/Twins+Comparison.png)
4. Photo Analysis
Finally having understood the meaning of Diane Arbuses' work, I decided to finish off this part of my research with some of my own analysis of her photos:
Summary
A conclusion I have come to after analysing her work myself is that I personally would definitely class Diane Arbuses' style of photography as documentation photography. The technicalities of her photography are more or less irrelevant, what truly matters is the subject being documented, which within her work is definitely irregular to say the least.
Continue with this approach to the other topics relevant to the assignment Jake.
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