Double Exposure

September 28, 2007 4:39 AM

The Arbus Twins (and other subjects), 40 years later.
posted by Brittanie (18 comments total)

I love Diane Arbus's photography. It's incredibly unique. Btw, how can it be 40 years later, when both the women in the recent photo look like they're from 1986?
posted by psmealey at 4:45 AM on September 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

Ha! Two years ago I got into a press tour of the Houston Museum of Fine Art's Arbus retrospective and it was amazing. She, Dare Wright and Nan Goldin are my photography muses.
posted by Brittanie at 4:53 AM on September 28, 2007

A truly iconic photographer. It's strange that the Wade sisters don't remember the session, you'd think it would be an ideal candidate for a 'suppressed memory'.
posted by tellurian at 5:08 AM on September 28, 2007

I don't want to call double, but I read this before, it is from 2005, and I know Arbus has been mentioned previously. I can't find this exact post, but you can see more meta-Arbus, here and here. A search shows more than that.

And then there's: Fur - An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)
posted by cjorgensen at 5:14 AM on September 28, 2007

Thank you so much for this! Arbus is one of my favorite photographers. When you read her speak about her photograpy, it's clear how it was something she fully retreated into and I think that comes through in her photography. It also always made me feel a bit weird to really enjoy her stuff, becuase it can feel intrusive or explaoitative. It's nice to see some of these people followed up on to see their relationship to theolder photos.
posted by piratebowling at 5:23 AM on September 28, 2007

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posted by localroger at 5:41 AM on September 28, 2007

Thanks! How appropriate that Anderson Cooper was photographed by Arbus as a baby. My favorite part of the piece was the realization that the emotional content of the pictures has mostly been imposed by the viewer, at least the photos discussed in the article. Somehow I think Arbus would've appreciated that.
posted by bluesky43 at 5:57 AM on September 28, 2007

The back story here is that Cooper's mom is Gloria Vanderbilt, the socialite turned denim jeans spokeswoman turned memoirist.

Wow, that's sort of bizarre.
posted by octothorpe at 6:30 AM on September 28, 2007

"Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park" is so Pre - Pee Wee Herman!
posted by R. Mutt at 6:43 AM on September 28, 2007

I've always wondered if Stanley Kubrick was inspired by that Diane Arbus photo when he filmed those twins in the Shining. Come play with us, Danny...forever...and ever...and ever...
posted by jonp72 at 6:49 AM on September 28, 2007

Collin Wood (Child with Toy Hand Grenade...), 42 years later.
posted by R. Mutt at 6:52 AM on September 28, 2007

Kubrick started out at a photographer for Look Magazine, he was probably a fan of Arbus's.
posted by octothorpe at 6:58 AM on September 28, 2007

Thanks for that previous post by matteo, cjorgensen. I love me some Germaine Greer.
posted by tellurian at 7:04 AM on September 28, 2007

jonp72: From the article: "The director Stanley Kubrick paid homage to this mix of innocence and menace in 'The Shining.' Twin girls, side by side and in matching dresses, turn up as ghosts in the film, harbingers of a gory finale. It's utterly terrifying." So yes he was, if you want to take David Segal's word for it.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 7:28 AM on September 28, 2007

I've always loved her work.

A bit of trivia -- her husband, Allan Arbus, is known to many as psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman [photo] on the television series M*A*S*H.
posted by ericb at 8:14 AM on September 28, 2007

Very cool article, thanks!
posted by amyms at 8:30 AM on September 28, 2007

REALLY nice link for a Friday! (Funny thing is, whenever I see that photo, I almost immediately think of its Kubrick crib in "The Shining".)

Thanks a bunch for this.
posted by Mike D at 9:07 AM on September 28, 2007

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posted by rougy at 8:52 PM on September 28, 2007