“Retired man and his wife at home in a nudist camp one morning, N.J.”

Diane Arbus

 “Retired man and his wife at home in a nudist
camp one morning, N.J.,”

1963

 

 

Diane Arbus, "the photograpgher of freaks," gained that title by photographing the, well not so very often photographed. She was born in 1923 in New York City. Diane and her husband were both interested in photography and had a commercial phography business called "Diane and Alan Arbus" where she took on the role of art director and he photographer. They contributed to many famous fashion magazines but Diane quit the business in 1956 and began her own photographic journey. In 1971 she committed suicide while living at Wesbeth Artists Community in New York City. AS mentioned before, Arbus is known for photographing the odder folk growing up in society. Not the supermodels or gorgeous people that are slathered on evry page of most popular magazines, but moreso the people in the background, the "weird"-er folk. She found beauty in every single person and documented it throughout her life. The picture I chose of hers stuck out to me the first time I saw it, not so much because it was of a naked older couple in their living room, I wasn't interested in it until it came to my knowledge that the only way they would let her take their picture was if she was naked herself. And obviously, that's how it went down. Then I started to pay more attention to the photograph itself and started making connections with the people and the objects in the room. The first thing I noticed was that they were wearing slippers/sandals. Priceless. Then I noticed the picture of what looks like a 1950's Playboy Pinup girl, that seems to be naked or topless herself. And what also caught my eye is how wide open and welcoming the front door is. Thats how comfortable they feel in their own skin. We as viewers can't tell where the house is located because the bright light from outside but in the title it is mentioned that they are a part of a nudist camp. And the fact that they share such openness with surrounding families in this camp is kind of refreshing to me. Who needs clothes?