Bio Bit: Diane Arbus

Young Forbidden Love: Diane Arbus

"My favorite thing is to go where I've never been." - Diane Arbus

Look back and remember your first crush. If you’re like most other human beings, it was at a fairly young age, and most likely your first crush wasn’t your last. For Diane Arbus, the famous and controversial photographer born in 1923, her crush at the age of fourteen became a lot more than just a warm memory of the naivety of adolescence. Allen Arbus, the boy who captured Diane’s heart, was the son of one of her father’s business partners. He was nineteen and, because of her youth and the connection to business, Diane’s parents strongly disapproved of her infatuation. However, because of her stubbornness to do what is forbidden - something that marks the rest of her life story - this only caused the romance to grow stronger in secret. Diane was a promising art student, and her writings were amazing in high school. Her whole family was artistically talented and her father encouraged her to pursue a painting career. Soon after school though, Diane gave up writing and painting saying “I hated painting and I quit right after high school because I was continually told how terrific I was, I had the sense that if I was so terrific at it, it wasn’t worth doing” (1).

Art DepartMENTAL

All ambition in pursuing any kind of career eventually became swallowed up by her one and only desire to become Allen’s wife. As soon as she turned 18 they got married in 1941. It was Allen who introduced Diane to photography and soon the two followed their interest into a successful commercial and fashion photography career. They made a good team together, with Allen doing most of the shooting, and Diane, described as being “extremely smart and witty and incredibly perceptive…” (1), came up with the ideas and props. Eventually, the limitations and demands of the commercial business began to frustrate them both. Diane wanted to do more artistic photography, and Allen wanted to follow his dreams of being an actor. These conflicts of interest began to also put stress on their marriage. In 1956, Diane broke away from their business to study and develop her own vision as a photographer. By 1959, just three years later, the couple separated and Diane went to live with her two daughters on her own. What could’ve brought such a blossoming love from youth to such an ending is unclear. But amidst stresses and the parting of a shared career, coupled with Diane’s fascination with the socially forbidden and the embracing of a living-on-the-edge attitude about money, social status and sexual freedom, a healthy, loving, and committed marriage would have difficulty surviving. The heart, allowed to lead without the head, often leaves people burned, causing the most passionate love to suddenly die over something as simple as a single disagreement. This is the painful lesson that Diane Arbus learned as her “true love” from youth ended in cold separation.

Bibliography

(1)    "A Fresh Look at Diane Arbus." Smithsonian. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2014.

"Diane Arbus." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 05 Sep. 2014.