Monday, June 6, 2016

My Photography Inspiration...


Almost 45 years ago, the world of photography lost one of it's most provocative artists, Diane Arbus.  My favorite photography book, and I have shelves of them, is Patricia Bosworth's biography "Diane Arbus: Portrait of a Photographer", 1984.

Thank you Michelle Van Parys, my inspiration for pursuing photography teacher.  She recommended I read this biography back in 1996, after an assignment I was given on Diane Arbus.  I quickly purchased the book, after I read a copy from the College of Charleston library.  I cherish the feeling I had, like being a fly on the wall, when I read the biography.  Bosworth really gives a great insight into the wacky world of Arbus.  Just thinking about the book inspires me.

What I like most, is discovering what the photograph on the cover is about.  Arbus was an instructor of Photography, Parson School of Design, New York, NY and Instructor of Photography, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI.

In 1971, a student, Eva Rubenstein, was given an assignment "to take a picture of something or someone you've never photographed before or are afraid of or are in awe of…"  This just amazes me, that she photographed Diane.  I love this photograph.

Seems a new biography has been published by Arthur Lubow, in 2016.  A New York Times article from June 2, 2016.
http://nyti.ms/1XmqNGG