Diane Arbus was accused of exploiting ‘freaks’. We misunderstood her art
Sebastian Smee | The Washington Post | 26th September 2022
Arbus was not a big name until a 1972 posthumous retrospective unleashed a fierce debate about her work. A re-creation of that show, on its 50th anniversary, again stirs the pot. Arbus said she celebrated “differentness”, but some accused her of voyeurism or of exploiting her subjects. That criticism now seems silly. “What artist isn’t interested in the gaps between … our private selves and the selves we present in public. Arbus was simply one of the first to recognize the camera’s unique way of revealing them”.