This is a Diane Arbus photograph from fairly late in her career. It's called "Untitled (7)" (well really -- what would YOU call it?!?!?!!!) and I find it eerily beautiful and endlessly absorbing. It's always reminded me of a Gericault painting; the figures are arranged AS IF they had been arranged and the very romantic lowering clouds looming in the background seem to belong in Wuthering Heights! Damn, but Arbus sure knew when to snap her shutter! The subjects (not surprisingly for Arbus) are "mentally challenged" and they seem to have a definite destination in mind; look how they're all progressing towards something. What, I wonder. I love the little Toulouse Lautrec-like fellow in the center (with his [drawn on???] curly-cue moustache) being lead by the hand of the figure in the black mask. I don't know what siren call they're all heading towards but I feel slightly left behind by those who look like they know better. It's almost Tolkienian with the figures set against the dark woods; like the trek through the forest in "The Hobbit". Inarguably forward momentum. One wishes one could see what lies just outside the frame. This photo is surely more like a painting than a photo. And the only thing I still can't understand is how Diane Arbus' former husband could POSSIBLY be the guy who played psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Friedman on M*A*S*H* for over a decade?!?!!!!
Friday, March 30, 2007
FAVE FOTO FRIDAY!
This is a Diane Arbus photograph from fairly late in her career. It's called "Untitled (7)" (well really -- what would YOU call it?!?!?!!!) and I find it eerily beautiful and endlessly absorbing. It's always reminded me of a Gericault painting; the figures are arranged AS IF they had been arranged and the very romantic lowering clouds looming in the background seem to belong in Wuthering Heights! Damn, but Arbus sure knew when to snap her shutter! The subjects (not surprisingly for Arbus) are "mentally challenged" and they seem to have a definite destination in mind; look how they're all progressing towards something. What, I wonder. I love the little Toulouse Lautrec-like fellow in the center (with his [drawn on???] curly-cue moustache) being lead by the hand of the figure in the black mask. I don't know what siren call they're all heading towards but I feel slightly left behind by those who look like they know better. It's almost Tolkienian with the figures set against the dark woods; like the trek through the forest in "The Hobbit". Inarguably forward momentum. One wishes one could see what lies just outside the frame. This photo is surely more like a painting than a photo. And the only thing I still can't understand is how Diane Arbus' former husband could POSSIBLY be the guy who played psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Friedman on M*A*S*H* for over a decade?!?!!!!
This is a Diane Arbus photograph from fairly late in her career. It's called "Untitled (7)" (well really -- what would YOU call it?!?!?!!!) and I find it eerily beautiful and endlessly absorbing. It's always reminded me of a Gericault painting; the figures are arranged AS IF they had been arranged and the very romantic lowering clouds looming in the background seem to belong in Wuthering Heights! Damn, but Arbus sure knew when to snap her shutter! The subjects (not surprisingly for Arbus) are "mentally challenged" and they seem to have a definite destination in mind; look how they're all progressing towards something. What, I wonder. I love the little Toulouse Lautrec-like fellow in the center (with his [drawn on???] curly-cue moustache) being lead by the hand of the figure in the black mask. I don't know what siren call they're all heading towards but I feel slightly left behind by those who look like they know better. It's almost Tolkienian with the figures set against the dark woods; like the trek through the forest in "The Hobbit". Inarguably forward momentum. One wishes one could see what lies just outside the frame. This photo is surely more like a painting than a photo. And the only thing I still can't understand is how Diane Arbus' former husband could POSSIBLY be the guy who played psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Friedman on M*A*S*H* for over a decade?!?!!!!
The little guy in the front obviously has down syndrome. I suspect that most of the folks in this photo are developmentally disabled. Arbus was fond of shooting pics of disabled people, humanizing them (as it were).
ReplyDeleteDarling Cerpts, I'd call it the last "Thunderpussy Family Reunion" on my father's side. You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose but you can't pick your relitives or your friend's nose!
ReplyDeleteWonderful photo angel, I adore Arbus but I've never seen this one before.