One of my favorite photographers, Diane Arbus, is known for her photography of outsiders and misfits. But I always think back to her early self-portrait (above) of herself as a young mother with her daughter Doon. Knowing how her short life would end in suicide in 1971, it's hard to look at her so vulnerable and, I think, happy.
Her early work, like this shot of 2 children on the sidewalk in New York City may lack her later formalism (stark lighting, eye level, straight on photos) but laid the groundwork of her career-long mission to humanize the strange and unlikely subjects or her photography.
From giants to little people, socialites to drag queens - and everyone in between - Arbus' portraits are known for her unflinching gaze. Her work featuring children inspires me because she treats them as she does adults by showing their individual personalities.
The famous shot of a young boy holding a toy hand grenade shows a gawky child grimacing at the camera. But a look at the contact sheet that day includes several emotions - happiness, mischief, boredom - Arbus' caught on the child's face.
And while sometimes imagining the inner workings of a child's mind can be unnerving, I think it's brave to give them the same respect as adults in portraiture.
The photo of the twins (inspiring Kubrick's twins in The Shining) shows how by getting down to the child's level Arbus treats the girls as equals to the viewer.
I come away from Arbus's photos wondering about the person's life after the portrait was taken. Diane Arbus succeeded where other art photographers failed by foregoing her own ego and letting the humanity of her subjects dominate. Sadly, she lost her own way.
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