My Best Rule for Telling Good Art from Bad Art
An invitation to freedom, optimism and new perspectives
Recently, I had a powerful experience at a photography exhibition featuring the work of American photographer Diane Arbus (1923–71).
I didn’t know much about her before I arrived, only that Arbus was a photographer who made intimate black-and-white photos.
What I discovered was that throughout the 1960s Arbus made it her business to take photos of every shade of human life: she took images of circus acts, teenage lovers, penniless kids playing baseball in the park, high-society dames with thick lipstick, transvestites in hair rollers, and everything else in between.
The exhibition was extensive. The full spectrum of human society was depicted. To give you an idea of what was on display, there was one photo with the title “Fat Girl Yawning”. Another was called “Puerto Rican Woman With Beauty Mark”. I was looking at people whose lives were remote from mine, yet my gaze upon them was as intimate as any gaze could be.
There are lots of responses you can have to images like these.
I might have thought about the life of Diane Arbus and the places she had to venture to capture these penetrating snapshots. Or I might have thought about her dedication to…
