Diane Arbuss Photography - Assignment Example

Insert Diane Arbus’s Photography Diane Arbus was a renowned American photographer and She was credited for capturing black-and-white photographs of individuals whose images were largely lacking in the public domain. Deviants and “unusual” people such as dwarfs, giants, transgender individuals, the nude, circus performers, and the ugly or strange people were the focus of the artist. Arbus held the opinion that photography should be cold and harsh, provided it exposed the underlying truth. Arbus’s area of focus in photography enabled her to cut a niche for herself as a revealer of flaws that others would rather ignore or conceal. This paper is a formal and iconographic analysis of Arbus photographs as compared with the works of Annie Leibovitz. Arbus is basically revered for bringing out a unique quality known as rough empathy in her photographs. Her works embody commonly gendered attributes of mystery and neurosis, which generally distort the primary intent of the photographs. As Annie Leibovitz concentrated in cool, common images of ordinary people and objects, various works in Arbus’ name reveal her penchant for the images of the sidelined, the surreal, and the impaired. Unlike Leibovitz works, Arbus’s works are ethically weakened by the vulnerability and flawed nature of the subjects. Artistically, most of her works seem to be pathetic, miserable and repulsive, rather than attractive as work of art should be. Arbus’s world of flaws What strikes every audience who views Arbus’s works is the convincing feeling of the natural environment, and how uninterrupted her subjects existed in it. In light of her natural touch evidenced in the photos, reducing the artist to the “photographer of freaks” clearly reveals an industry where people are unwilling to come to terms with the otherness of the images (Sontag 1). When Arbus took photographs of people lacking clearly discernible flaws, she often found the off attribute, the odd edging, and the unusual lighting that projected her art as pervaded by flaws. Loser at a diaper derby, N. J. (1967), for example, is one of her iconic works showing a toddler close-up, crying bitterly. The baby’s fat fists are clenched as a sign of mourning, with the silhouette image of his mother showing her ignorance of the toddler. The photograph reveals a case of existential solitude that troubles the massive number of cute, happy baby photos by many artists such as Leibovitz. Leibovitz’s Leonardo Dicaprio with a Swan (1997) reveals a flawless work of photography. The most attractive attribute of this photo is the perfect harmony in the swan wrapped around Leonardo Dicaprio’s neck. With Dicaprio’s hands carefully holding the body of the swan, Leibovitz carefully disproves Arbus Loser at a diaper derby, by capturing a pair of tender hands that the Airbus baby is lacking in the photograph taken three decades earlier. In addition, Leibovitz clearly depicts the perfect background field and the color of the bird as clearly conspicuous from the darkness of Leo’s jumper. The resulting mix of colors creates a perfect, vibrant contrast. Unlike the wide gap between indifferent mother and the crying baby in the Arbus’s 1967 photo, which according to Sontag (1), “rule(s) out a historical understanding of reality,” it is evident that Leibovitz created reality by arranging Leo’s eye line at almost the same intersection with the swan’s long neck around his, making it stand out. As such, whereas the Arbus’s photo creates mystery in the silhouette mother and the crying baby, Leo with the swan resolves any doubts which the audience may harbor by focusing one’s attention to Leo’s face, which the swan perfectly creates by putting the face directly into perspective. Leibovitz’s choice of background also reduces any form of distraction of the audience due to its massive use of the foreground. And, with the less important left side of the photo being blurred and the right side brightened and evenly filled by Leo, the higher level of illumination to the right creates contrast that solves any mystery in the photograph by softening the entire image. Controversy in Arbus’s works Arbus’s penchant for photographs of the mentally ill, especially in her closing series named Untitled (1960s-1970s) attracted more condemnation and attention than ever before. With, Arbus’s projection of “photographer as character," Sontag (1) perceives her photographs as immensely troublesome. For others, they constitute Arbus’s most amazingly attractive and rich artistry with hidden meanings. Meanwhile, by focusing mostly on women at a time when the gender was seeking to find a footing following many centuries of male discrimination, Arbus’s capture of strange women in the dark fields, in night dresses deserve condemnation at first glance. Arbus’s Untitled (6) (1970–71), for example, shows three fat, strange women posing on grassy background in a manner that arguably breaches the ethics of photography. The subject’s lost self-awareness convincingly hurts and seeks empathy, rather than entertaining and educating the audience. By contrast, Leibovitz’s choice of a woman in her Meryl Streep (2012) is kinder to the audience. The most notable activity in the photograph is her incomplete wearing of make-up and the yanking of the white face with her fingers to create some kind of illusion. Therefore, unlike the insane women in Arbus’s Untitled 6, the Leibovitz image shows the woman is self-aware of her life and deliberately creates visual symbolism, which she has trained her face to portray in different feelings and emotions during acting. Unlike Arbus’s controversial pictures, most of which were taken without the full knowledge of the subjects, Leibovitz’s Meryl Streep directs the attention of the audience to the personal aspect of applying the make-up and self-awareness. In addition, the high level of illumination used by Leibovitz in the image which was achieved by warm colors around the subject resolves any doubts in the photo, but which Arbus steered clear of throughout her photography. Conclusion Arbus’s photographs are unique in the sense that they reveal the awful qualities of subjects, which many artists would rather leave out of their collection. In acknowledging the identity of Arbus’s works as evidenced in the unusual nature of her subjects, the artist is arguably one that aimed to fight for the interests of the marginalized in a manner that created more controversy than peace, especially among media conservatives. By contrast, Leibovitz’s photography is “normal” and relatively rich in harmony. Regardless, the main reason behind the artist’s approach to photography could have been to end cruelty against and or the suffering of the surreal subjects by throwing in something new in the 20th century galleries. Works Cited Sontag, Susan. "America, Seen Through Photographs, Darkly." Carrie Costa, 2010. Web 8 Oct. 2014. < http://www.carrieacosta.com/>. Read More