DIANE ARBUS, Identical Twins, Roselle, NJ, 1967
DIANE ARBUS (1923-1971)
Idential Twins, Roselle, NJ, 1967
8" x 10" (Image Size)
Gelatin Silver, printed after
In her 1963 Guggenheim Fellowship proposal, American Rites, Manners and Customs, Diane Arbus stated that her interest lied in photographing "the considerable ceremonies of our present, […] I want to gather them, […] because they will have been so beautiful." The wish to preserve the moments of understated existence continued for the rest of her brief if potent career, during which Arbus turned her attention to "things that nobody would see unless I photographed them," as she stated in 1969. From dwarfs to giants, nudists to transvestites, and as we see in this image, twins, Arbus gravitated towards people whose existence was a source of intrigue by society. Her images of the aforementioned subjects are frontal and candid, removed from the critical context in which they had been presented heretofore. The identical twins, adorned in identical clothes, headbands, and hairdos, upon closer inspection begin diverging in personalities as differences in their facial expressions and gaze quietly surface. Their identical presentation is rendered heavy-handed and contrived as they morph into two distinct individuals. It is a powerful testament to Arbus's gently subversive eye, seeking the normal in the marginalized, and highlighting the unnerving in mainstream.