Diane Arbus

Diane was born into an affluent Jewish family in New York City. She attended private schools, where her artistic talent became obvious, along with a tendency toward adventurous and risky behaviors. She fell in love with Allan Arbus at age fifteen and married him soon after high school graduation, at age eighteen. She became fascinated with both photography and the aberrant sub-cultures of society, which became the subjects of much of her photographic portraiture. She partnered with her husband in fashion photography but found it unfulfilling. Eventually, the marriage failed, and Diane struck out on her own, alternating between two types of work. First, she accepted assignments from popular magazines in order to provide for herself and two daughters, Doon and Amy.

Second, she pursued her first love, that is, photographing portfolios of strange and bizarre groups of people, including giants, midgets, beatniks, runaways, carnival freaks,. transvestites...