2004 Infinity Award: Publication

Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s Diane Arbus produced radical photographs of people in and around New York City. Her images of passersby on the street, carnival performers, children of the very rich, nudists, transvestites, middle-class couples, celebrities, and retarded people reflect her fascination with subcultures and the mystery of identity.

The recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships and a featured artist in several pivotal museum group shows, Diane Arbus had firmly established her preeminence in the world of the visual arts by the time of her death in 1971. Over seven million people attended the Museum of Modern Art’s 1972 touring retrospective, a testament to the extent of her affect on audiences. As distinctive today as it was then, Arbus’s unmistakable style continues to influence modern photography.

Diane Arbus Revelations reproduces 200 full-page duotone photographs, some of which have never been published or exhibited, and includes an extensive illustrated chronology by Elisabeth Sussman and Doon Arbus (Diane’s daughter) composed mainly of excerpts from the artist’s letters, notebooks, and other writings. Biographies of Arbus’s friends and colleagues by Jeff L. Rosenheim, associate curator of photographs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, complement the chronology. Essays by Sandra S. Phillips, senior curator of photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Neil Selkirk, the only person since Arbus’s death authorized to print her negatives, further illuminate the artist’s aims and techniques. Diane Arbus Revelations is the first comprehensive exploration of the life and work of one of the century’s most significant photographers.