Diane Arbus - Hayward Gallery exhibition

Diane Arbus

"In the Beginning"

Hayward Gallery at Southbank Center

Diane Arbus focuses on photographing people on the fringes of society in New York. This breadth of work focuses on Arbus' first half of her career. The photos capture people in a striking an honest way, capturing small moments and genuine expression. The layout of the gallery itself is unconventional, with photos sort of strewn about so that the visitor will experience each photo in no specific order at random, similar to how a street photographer will come across their subjects.

Arbus documented New York in the mid 1950's, focusing on what she saw as unique; transvestites, strippers, elders, children, circus performers, disabled people, and even corpses. The photos themselves are intriguing and tend to feel like you are looking into fleeting and intimate moments that have been captured by chance. 

There are little messaged hidden around the exhibit as well, one of them reads "All I want is what I don't know", which seems an accurate interpretation of the Arbus' curious nature and hunger to discover her subjects.

Overall the exhibition made me feel nostalgic for New York, for a time I barely know but feel I can somehow remember through her photos. While I wouldn't necessarily carry this work into my own in terms of painting, It did get me thinking more about figuration and true expression. The subjects were honest and vulnerable in their gazes, something which I think could come across interestingly in painting.