Last weekend was the second time that I read about Diane Arbus. This was an article published in the Saturday Telegraph magazine to promote the forthcoming Diane Arbus Photography exhibition, “Revelations” at the Victoria And Albert Museum. Several pages & very well written I thought. The term Street Photography was never mentioned in this article but…… She was a Street Photographer & I that with the greatest respect. I have long said that street Photography is a conceptual continuity, & what she did, was a quest with a continuity for more of the same.
When I got my first camera, early teens, I never knew that the term Street Photography existed! All I was interested in was to go into the streets & take pictures, this was way back in the early seventies when big names of the photography world like Lee Frieldlander, Garry Winogrand, Cartier-Bresson & many others including Diane Arbus were making a big name for themselves or had already done. & so what I guess I’m saying is that non of them were really an influence on me but later in life when I became familiar with what they did, I LIKED WHAT THEY DID!!!…….& I guess, if I had been influenced by anyone, may be I would have chosen Arbus to be influenced by!! I think she had “balls”!! If u acquire my drift & who know if that was good or actually bad for her health!! Many people are now influenced by what she did & if she wasn’t the way she was, may be she wouldn’t have been the same influence. I don’t know why she went, but I do know that 99% of the time its probably Desperation combined with Depression. God Bless!
Back to the article in the Telegraph, I loved the picture “A blind couple in their bedroom,Queens,NY 1971”