Teenage Couple on Hudson Street

“Giving a camera to Diane Arbus is like giving a hand grenade to a child.” — Norman Mailer

Diane Arbus was born in 1923 in New York City.  She started out as a commercial and fashion photographer but she is best known for her work featuring men and women who would never appear in a fashion spread.  Her stark, black-and-white pictures of outsiders and fringe dwellers always found the humanity in her subjects.  Though she committed suicide in 1971, Arbus continues to influence artists to this day and her work remains powerful.

Below are a few of my favorite photographs of hers: