How Diane Arbus Can Transform Your Art Practice
“Most people go through life dreading they’ll have a traumatic experience.
‘Freaks’ were born with their trauma.
They’ve already passed their test in life.
They’re aristocrats.”
– Diane Arbus
By Thea Fiore-Bloom, PhD
Diane Arbus made photos that can blow your brain cap right off.
The kind of pictures that get you thinking about the nature of society and the mystery of being.
If you’re a curious creative, you may want to discover more about how Arbus approached art-making.
So here are 4 lesser-known things about Diane (pronounced Dee-Ann) Arbus and her art practice that I’ve found surprising and enlivening.
I hope that her wisdom will inspire, affirm, and enrich your creative process as well.
4 Things You Don’t Know About Diane Arbus
Fact 1. The Power of Diane Arbus’s Portraits Came From Permission
The power of Diane Arbus’s portraits came from permission.
For Arbus, the subject of her photo (the person) was more important than the finished print.
Arbus didn’t exploit her subjects.
She almost always asked subjects for permission to photograph them.
Also, Arbus honored her photographic subjects where they were at.
In other words, she rarely posed people or moved things around in a room where she was shooting.
“I work from awkwardness.
By that I mean I don’t like to arrange things.
If I stand in front of something, instead of arranging it, I arrange myself.”
– Diane Arbus
Tip 1 for Artists from the Life of Diane Arbus
If You’re a Photographer, Ask “Models” for Permission
Ask permission from your models in the street.
It honors them and your art.
I live in a really weird and interesting historic area, swamped with tourists from all over the globe in the summer.
So people on the street occasionally try to photograph me in front of my home without my permission.
And like most humans, I find it invasive, not flattering.
I am shy about photos, but most of my neighbors are not.
If those photographers asked my neighbors for permission, most of them would give a hearty, “Yes!”
Then those photographers would get better photos.
They might even be invited in to see more cool things.
For example, my neighbor lives in one of the first designs of a now world-famous architect.
And that neighbor of mine loves showing off the inner secrets of his structure, but only to folks who ask permission and start up conversations with him when he’s on his patio.
Permission begins conversations and leads to photos that, as Diane Arbus would say, contain more secrets.
Like the great photographer Graciela Iturbide, Arbus knew the ironic fact that photos taken with permission contain more secrets than those shot without.
Let’s explore what other secrets Arbus kept.
Fact 2. Arbus Was A Keeper of Secrets
Diane Arbus honored the secrets others told her.
She often had intimate discussions with her subjects while she was photographing them.
And it wasn’t a one-way street.
She divulged her secrets to her subjects as well.
But one thing I love about Arbus is that she never disclosed the personal stories of those she photographed to the curious media.
Arbus wisely chose to let her subjects and images speak for themselves.
She understood the power and potency of a secret.
“A photograph is a secret about a secret.
The more it tells you the less you know.”
-Diane Arbus
Tip 2 for Artists from the Life of Diane Arbus
Explain Less, Create More
The subjects of Arbus’s work still can jump off the paper and speak to you about love, death, or difference.
Despite the fact (or maybe because of the fact) that she didn’t discuss their personal stories with the media.
Heart-centered artists and women artists often feel pressured by art biz gurus to over-explain their abstract art to others (be it in person at a gallery opening or on their website).
Go rogue this year.
Imagine you’re a successful male artist who is allowed to have secrets.
Experiment with making art that honors your mystery.
Then experiment with not feeling pressured to explain that art to others.
Let it stand on its own.
Fact number three is all about Arbus’s fondness for mysteries, both modern and ancient.
Fact 3. Diane Arbus Loved Ancient Mysteries and Myth
Arbus’s creativity was fed by Dante, Homer, Shakespeare, and the ancient Greek myths.
“From Black [her teacher at Fieldston School] she learned that myths are not invented but inspired; that they come from the same source as dreams, below the level of consciousness.” (Bosworth, 29.)
Arbus loved myth and was fascinated by what psychologist Carl Jung would call the ancient archetypes of the collective unconscious.
I think this is why she photographed archetypal subjects like bodybuilders, flower girls, sword swallowers, cross-dressers as well as young lovers in the park.
Those people were more real to her than young debutantes at society galas or rich golfers at exclusive country clubs.
A close friend of Arbus said something about Diane that could be applied to many of us artists and writers:
“To Diane, the real world was always the fantasy.”
Can you relate?
Tip 3 for Artists from the Life of Diane Arbus
Read Myth, Fantasy, or Fairy Tale This Week
Reading mythology and fairy tales helps artists regain our sanity and refill our wells.
We are reminded that our problems are not unique.
They are as old as time.
Someone has trodden the path before us.
In this way, myth reconnects us to the original questions and mysteries that got us to jump up and enjoy the dance of art in the first place.
Two of Arbus’s favorite books as an adult were:
- The White Goddess by mythologist Robert Graves.
- Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
But despite her forays into “fantasy,” Arbus was no hopeless romantic.
She got it that art was hard work.
And mistakes were an important part of that work.
Fact 4. Diane Arbus Believed It Was Important to Take Bad Pictures
Arbus was a fan of taking bad pictures.
Like many prolific artists, Arbus knew mistakes were gold.
“Some pictures are tentative forays without your even knowing it.
They become methods.
It’s important to take bad pictures.
It’s the bad ones that have to do with what you’ve never done before.
They can make you recognize something you hadn’t seen in a way that will make you recognize it when you see it again.”
– Diane Arbus
Tip 4 for Artists from the Life of Diane Arbus
Try Making Buckets of Bad Art This Week
Follow the wisdom of Diane Arbus and make loads and loads of bad art this week.
Wrestle with your perfectionism this week and win.
See if you can focus on quantity over quality for even a weekend.
And see what you learn in the process.
For more on the connection between honoring mistakes and being prolific, read my post on what all creatives can learn from ADHD artists and writers.)
To conclude, let’s look at the four takeaways one last time.
My 4 Diane Arbus-Inspired Takeaways For Artists & Writers
- If you want to create work that transcends, ask permission.
- Closely guard the secrets of your models and muses.
- Don’t expect non-artists to be able to understand that mythology and dreams are often more real than day-to-day reality. Keep working your way, anyway.
- Allow your latest creative mistake to be the secret passage that leads you to find a new way for your art will grow wings.
“The thing that’s important to know is that you never know.
You’re always sort of feeling your way.”
– Diane Arbus
Want to see more of Arbus’s work and hear more of her words?
This is a thoughtful, awesome, 29-minute documentary put together by Diane Arbus’s daughter, Doon, the year after Diane Arbus took her own life in 1971.
What do you think?
Do you love Diane Arbus’s work?
Let me know in the comments below.
If you liked this post, you might also enjoy my posts on:
Georgia O’Keeffe, Rachel Carson, or Frida Kahlo.
Gift Book for Artists: Celebrate Their Passion with Books
As well as 51 Blog Post Topics for Heart-Centered Artists
Orhan Pamuk, Nobel Laureate: Genies, Junos, Junk Shops, and Genius
How Art Can Heal a Broken Heart
Alison Saar: Disrupting Classical Literature To Create Epic Modern Art
The Jonah Complex: How Artists Can Overcome Fear of Greatness
How to Submit Your Art to a Museum Store: Insider Tips from a Top Museum Store Manager
This post may contain Amazon affiliate links. This means if you buy books or stuff via my blog I may receive a tiny commission and do a happy dance. There is no extra fee for you. I only link to items I personally use and love; products that I think help heart-centered artists.
Thea:
For even the most intentional of us, there always seems to be a gap between our intentions and the results (in general, but especially as artists). Having read today’s CHARMED blog and watched the short documentary about Diane Arbus, I get the sense that Diane not only embraced the fact that “what the world serves-up” is hardly perfect, or what we desire or intend — yet it is what it is, and she seemed to accept this disparity and even seek-out the gaps — to deeply accept them for being what and how they are.
The metaphor of this for me — is that I have recently been photographing things I never took the time to notice before, and to see them anew and fresh. I recently began posting some of my gouache paintings and photographs on Instagram (account is: robanglin) and the powerful patterns or colors become far more important to the objects/subjects themselves. It is like learning to see differently. Some friends are confused about my photos of distortions through glass or water; color patterns or compositions that I used to walk right past; momentary transitions such as clouds or sunset lighting; or imaginary daydreams in my coffee or bowls of oatmeal. I think I am finding new ways of seeing what was always there, and I do realize that somehow there is something deeply personal in this quest, and that rather than impose my intentions of what my subject-matter is going to be — but rather to SEE what is already there to be discovered. This approach is turning out to be something very revealing — like a Rorschach Test: (What do I see?).
It is hard to put into words, yet I felt a certain kinship to how Diane seemed to take her subjects from a personal perspective with their permission), and that this approach revealed something (secret) about her subjects and about herself. She sought their permission —and gave us permission to SEE her through her work.
Thanks for introducing me to the work of Diane Arbus.
Great insights Ron. You are so welcome and thanks for taking the time to read the post, watch the video and leave this comment.
I think because Arbus passed no judgment on her subjects, and this allowed her and by extension, her viewer to see people differently. I’m coming to understand judgment takes the fun out of almost everything, doesn’t it? It is different from discernment. Have you ever read the work of Byron Katie? She is an eye-opener and is good for creatives IMO.
As far as friends not exactly understanding your work: I have a writing coaching client who is a great mentor for abstract painters and she says “the best thing you can do for your art is to close and lock your studio door. Don’t show your work until it’s ready and you are ready.” She believes if you show work too early, the comments or confusion of others, impact the direction you take it in.
I have been thinking about this myself.
What do you think?
Okay, be well. Keep watching clouds and water and all the other miracles passing by. 🙂
Thea, that article about Diane Arbus and her emotive work struck a chord. Laying bare secrets is what I often do in my work. Thank you!
Thanks, Sylvia, yes I can see that secrets and their unveiling might play a role in your work, how cool. You may know this already but in case you don’t: the alchemists valued Hermes because not only was he a god of magic, but also because he was the god of secrets and containment. Hermes (Trismegistus) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermes_Trismegistus was thought to have a role in magically sealing the content of the alchemist’s alembic vessels so transformations could take place within them. That is why we still use the term Hermetically Sealed.
Are secrets a powerful source of material for artists because they contain an element of…magic or potency?
What is your take on that?
haha. I own that little book! When I post my work on IG, I use hashtags like “alchemist or artmagic. That’s how I see myself. I believe that secrets, symbolisms and personal belongings with a history are powerful artistic tools. Most observers of our art can intuitively deduce the meaning for themselves. That’s where the magic comes in. It can be altered at any time. That’s just my take on it.
Of course you knew about that, I had a feeling you might! Such a wondrous take thanks Sylvia. Also you give myself and others a lesson in what I call “meaningful marketing.” You use tags that are about your deep self. So instead of just using the tag “found object art ” or “assemblage” you say “alchemist” or “artmagic”. And that not only draws to you those who are truly interested in what your art is all about at the soul level, it allows you to have fun tagging your work. It allows you to add meaning and joy with the day to day aspect of your art business. You are cool Sylvia.
I love this blog. My two favorite photographers are
Vivian Maier and Diane Arbus. I love the real, quirky, unusual people. The anti-beautiful people photography. So, so much more interesting.
Denise, are you reading my journal? Lol. I thought of doing the next blog on Vivian Maier! “Anti-beautiful people photography” is ingenious. Thanks for commenting. I wonder if Maier ever saw any Arbus photography in her life?
Here’s a quote for the day:
“Well, I suppose nothing is meant to last forever. We have to make room for other people. It’s a wheel. You get on, you have to go to the end. And then somebody has the same opportunity to go to the end and so on.” – Vivian Maier
So true. I just wish some people in politics would get to that end faster! Just Kidding? Nah
LOL. It’s true though nothing, both wondrous or hellish, can last forever, chin up.
This is so wonderful! She captured a vision of people’s souls. She uncovered the secret of an aspect of who somebody was. That’s so important. When you are in a place of permission you are in a place of vulnerability and you see someones true essence. I love that she was interested in archetypes. She captured them that’s why her work is so compelling and your eye is just drawn to the people. You did such a beautiful job explaining her and why we see what we see! Eureka!! Thank you once again, Thea. It is a beautiful piece.
Yes! Thank you for your kind comment Gale. Perhaps Arbus gave them permission to see her so they allowed her to see them. You have to be vulnerable to ask for permission right? So it’s a risk, most photographers opt out of. I am really beginning to get the beauty of permission as I get older. By going against the grain of the tenets of street photography ( which says no permission necessary) perhaps Arbus cracked open a whole new world for herself and her viewers.