This photograph was taken by Diane Arbus. She was an American photographer known for her black and white square photographs of people that differ from the norm within the society that they live in. There are a many pictures that accompany this one in the way that each is unusual but still unique from the next. Diane was born on March 14th 1923 in New York, America and sadly died at the age of 48. In 1972 a year after Diane committed suicide she became the first American photograph to have her work displayed at Venice Biennale where millions of people traveled to view her exhibition.
Diane's idea behind these photographs was to show that it may seem surreal or strange to people who do not see this everyday but there are people all over the world that are dwarfs or giants and people that enjoy being nudists or dressing as the opposite sex and it's not something that people should judge them for. She addresses many life issues within her work and I think this is great it gives both younger and older audiences opportunities to see for themselves that it is not just one of two people that are out of the ordinary and in the more modern day it is now something that people see as almost 'normal'. I think that these photographs could be a little exaggerated in the way that they are posed but sometimes people like themselves to be seen as flamboyant and show this through the photographs. The meaning to these photographs seem obvious to me in the way the people in them are posed and that they all connect with a theme.
Many of the photographs have been taken as close ups to details of facial expressions and emotions how ever some have been taken from wider shots so that she could capture all of the model in the photo and allow every aspect of the persons clothing and posture to be seen in one single photo. There is not much of an artistic approach to Diane's work in the way of contrast and patterns but the simplicity is great as the model in the photograph makes the picture. I really like the originality of the photographs I think if anything was to change it may be a little distracting. The idea behind the photographs is to show off model in the photo and to tell people that different is OK and if you was to add to the photographs it would change the meaning and take away from that.
I think that the photographs have been planned and posed but I think the poses are to show of the best of the meaning behind the photograph. The transgender guy in the top left photograph is posed in the bathroom with all his cosmetics he may use with a feminine drink in his hand his legs crossed. This may be because it is very stereotypical of women to do and is probably why he is posed this way. I also think that there may have been some darkroom techniques used to produce the best print. Diane probably added a contrast filter to make the photograph a little bit sharper.
The meaning to these images does not personally effect me but I do understand why Diane has produced these photographs and the emotions and feelings she hoped to get across. However even today her work does remain a problem to viewers as her pictures crossed boundaries that many people wouldn't imagine crossing in her years. Diane soon became friends with the people she photographed and this was also looked down upon.
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