Thirty years after her death, a retrospective of the work of American photographer Diane Arbus is now on view at Paris’s Jeu de Paume.
Diane Arbus’ legacy is a complicated one: She gets both a lot of praise and a lot of criticism for being “a photographer of freaks.” Norman Mailer once said that “giving a camera to Diane Arbus is like giving a hand grenade to a baby.” The portrait she took of him in a three-piece suit that prompted that comment is included in the current retrospective on exhibit at the Jeu de Paume in Paris. Mailer’s leg is slung over the side of an armchair and his expression is cocky, but it’s hardly anything to warrant a stir, especially in the company of the other, far more loaded photographs. An albino sword swallowed, the Jewish giant at home with his parents, the blind couple groping one another on the bed — these are society’s misfits and exiles, lined up on white walls to remind us of life’s complex hierarchy and Arbus’ empathetic relationship to her subjects. The magic of seeing the vast collection of photographs together and in person — the raw, unguarded emotion of each strange subject juxtaposed with incredibly private glimpses into Arbus’ life through journal entries, letters and media clippings — creates an experience that feels more intimate than voyeuristic, more artful than ironic. Arbus’ daughter Doon and her lover Marvin Isreal, waited more than 30 years after her death to agree to exhibits, and this is the first-ever major retrospective in France. That the museum is located in the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens only makes a visit all the more enticing.
Meghan McEwen writes about travel and design and is the founder of designtripper.com. All images © Diane Arbus.
