Portfolios

In 2016, The Met Breuer presented in the beginning, a landmark exhibition of Arbus’s early photographs from the first seven years of her career, from 1956–1962. These 35mm pictures had previously been presented in a supporting role to her later, iconic images. The show and accompanying catalogue marked the first time many of the images were ever seen.

The publication of Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph in 1972—along with the related posthumous retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art—offered the general public its first encounter with the breadth and power of her achievements. The response was unprecedented.

“Like most photographers of her time, Diane Arbus looked to magazines as the sole means of earning a living taking pictures, which was not merely gratifying but essential. They offered her an opportunity to work and have her work seen, gave her access to people and events she might not have been able to photograph otherwise, and, perhaps most important of all, encouraged her to think of herself as a professional.” — Doon Arbus & Marvin Israel, foreword, Magazine Work

Diane Arbus Revelations was organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2003 and traveled to museums in the United States and Europe through 2006. The exhibition and accompanying catalogue offered the deepest exploration to date of Arbus’s career and her impact on photography.