Diane Arbus monograph reissued with focus on empathy and controversy

Aperture has released a fortieth-anniversary edition of Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph, originally accompanying her 1972 posthumous MoMA retrospective. The book features Arbus's own words from interviews and lectures alongside her photographs, including seven from her late series at institutions for the mentally disabled. Arbus's work, known for depicting marginalized subjects like midgets, nudists, and twins, has been both canonized and criticized. Susan Sontag's 1973 essay Freak Show argued the photographs were ethically compromised by their vulnerable subjects. Arbus's influence extends to photographers Sylvia Plachy, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Rineke Dijkstra. The monograph includes iconic images such as Identical twins, Roselle, N.J. (1967) and Loser at a diaper derby, N.J. (1967), which capture existential loneliness. Arbus's late series Untitled (1970–71), featuring women in nightgowns and masks, is noted for its poetic and devastating beauty. The book's introduction, compiled by Marvin Israel and Doon Arbus, presents Arbus's perspective that freaks are 'aristocrats' who have passed life's test. Published on September 30, 2011, the 184-page volume costs $65 and highlights Arbus's rough empathy and biting satire.