Marshay Davis : POST #4 : DIANE ARBUS

1. Diane Arbus's technical choices varied with time. Being one of the upcoming photographers of the 20th century (a truly innovative era) , its only right to note that her cameras evolved throughout her career. The first camera she chose to shoot with was a meterless Nikon F. 

With this camera, she shot every picture in portrait orientation, and left landscape as the main orientation. After shooting with this camera, she them moved on to a rollieflex. She didn't start out with a standard Rollie. And the main reason for that was to keep her photos authentic. It left  her photos this weird dis proportioned look that gave them a twist. She then began to use a MamiaC33 with a 50mm 80mm and 135 mm lens. Doing this Drew a lot of attention to depth of field. It also put an emphasis on how subjects and their surroundings compliment each other. The last thing she used before she died was a Pentac 6x7. She noted that this made her pictures more "narrative and temporal,less fixed, single, completed, and isolated" 

2.I feel like Arbus's main intent with her photography was to showcase abnormality, and make it beautiful. Her photographs don't give you many answers. Instead, they raise eyebrows, and ask questions.Shooting  with a camera that only produced square images, she aimed to embody indifference in her photos. I believe her intent was to make her photography expressive. She wanted her images to hold possibility.Every photo was  in black in white. And Every photo held a story. Every subject was something you couldn't look away from.

3.i feel like her intents and choices were genius. The fact that she searched for interesting people to take photos of, put her in a league of her own during that time. She wasn't afraid to step outside of the box , or her comfort zone. The unfamiliarity of her photos gave her a push. They gave you a glimpse into her mind as well. The camera choices, and settings at which she used her camera helped her immensely. Her photos make me feel almost sad in a sense. They convey this silent message of doubt. I can't really put my finger on why I feel this way, but that's the feeling she has instilled in me by looking at her work.