Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus
Photograph of Diane Arbus by Allan Arbus (a film test), c. 1949
Born	Diane Nemerov (1923-03-14)March 14, 1923 New York City
Died	July 26, 1971(1971-07-26) (aged 48) New York City
Nationality	American
Known for	Photography
Notable work	Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C. 1962 (1962) Identical Twins, Roselle, New Jersey, 1967 (1967)
Spouse(s)	Allan Arbus (m. 1941; div. 1969)

Diane Arbus (/diːˈæn ˈɑːrbəs/; March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971) was an American photographer and writer noted for photographs of marginalized people—dwarfs, giants, transgender people, nudists, circus performers—and others whose normality was perceived by the general populace as ugly or surreal.

In 1972, a year after she committed suicide, Arbus became the first American photographer to have photographs displayed at the Venice Biennale. Millions viewed traveling exhibitions of her work in 1972–1979. The book accompanying the exhibition, Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph, edited by Doon Arbus and Marvin Israel and first published in 1972 is the best selling photography monograph ever, still being reprinted today. Between 2003 and 2006, Arbus and her work were the subjects of another major traveling exhibition, Diane Arbus Revelations. In 2006, the motion picture Fur, starring Nicole Kidman as Arbus, presented a fictional version of her life story.

Arbus was born Diane Nemerov to David Nemerov and Gertrude Russek Nemerov, a Jewish couple who lived in New York City and owned Russek's, a famous Fifth Avenue department store. Because of her family's wealth, Arbus was insulated from the effects of the Great Depression while growing up in the 1930s. Her father became a painter after retiring from Russek's; her younger sister would become a sculptor and designer; and her older brother, Howard Nemerov, a professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis, would later become United States Poet Laureate and the father of the Americanist art historian Alexander Nemerov.