Diane Arbus

Historically, disability has been portrayed in a variety of ways, though typically, “in specialized forms" (Morris 1991: 85). Diane Arbus in the 1960’s was not afraid to capture her subjects “with no pity,” with a straight, head-on view (Palumbo 2018).

    Arbus was both criticized and celebrated for her bold gaze and made no distinction between her subjects (Palumbo 2018).  

Fig.     Arbus 1970-71. Untitled

“What is normal, anyway? Arbus asked that question through each of her photographs” (Palumbo 2018)

    Fig.  Slade 2019. Tiny Dancer

    Some of the children I feature could have easily been one of Arbus’ ‘freaks’ of her time. The tiny ballerina (featured above) most likely would have lived life-long as institutionalized and medicated. Today she continues to defy many medical diagnosis, and her mother declares, “The only person that can give me a glimpse into Aspyn’s future, is her.”   

    Luckily society today has made great progress in understanding and including both children and adults with physical or mental irregularities.  

MORRIS, Jenny. 1991.  Pride Against Prejudice London: Women's Press.

PALUMBO, Jacqui 2018. Revisiting Diane Arbus’s Final and Most Controversial Series. Visual Culture.  Available at: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-revisiting-diane-arbuss-final-controversial-series. [accessed 20 March 2019].