Amy Arbus (born April 16, 1954) is an American photographer. She teaches portraiture at the International Center of Photography, Anderson Ranch,[1] NORD photography[2] and the Fine Arts Work Center. She has published several books of photography, including The Fourth Wall which The New Yorker called her "masterpiece".[3] Her work has appeared in over 100 periodicals including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Architectural Digest, and The New York Times Magazine.[4] She is the daughter of actor Allan Arbus and photographer Diane Arbus, the sister of writer and journalist Doon Arbus, and the niece of distinguished poet Howard Nemerov.[5][6]
Amy Arbus | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 16, 1954 New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Photographer |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Parents | |
| Relatives |
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Life and work
edit"On the Street"
editFrom 1980 to 1990, Arbus had a monthly street style column in the Village Voice entitled "On the Street".[7] On starting with the Village Voice, Arbus said that "I went to the Voice with a portfolio that I had taken of one woman, my friend Jan Collins... All they said to me was 'take a picture of anyone who makes you turn your head.'"[8] These photographs explore performances of self and the ways in which people used fashion as an expression of creativity.[9] Her column often featured portraits of celebrities and tastemakers early in their careers including Madonna, fashion designer Anna Sui, nightlife impresario Susanne Bartsch, Andre Walker and The Clash.[8] Arbus shot her subjects from slightly below to "suggest they were monuments".[7]
In 2006, Welcome Books published On the Street : 1980–1990,[10] a collection of more than 70 of the most influential images from Arbus' time at the Village Voice, those that "lend a voice to an era when individuality and self-expression were fighting for breathing room in a culture that valued economics over creativity".[11] John Spellos then created a documentary called On the Street[12] following Arbus as she tracked down the subjects of these photographs 25 years after they were taken.
Recent work
editIn a talk at UCLA's Hammer Museum, Arbus described her reluctance to become a photographer and her years studying at the Berklee College of Music and hanging out with The Cars (then still unknown), before studying at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.[13] In an interview published in The Guardian, she explains her initial reluctance to enter the field of photography, stating, "I was holding myself back, afraid to compete with this legend... But I remember the minute the viewfinder came up to my eye, I thought, I'm home."[14]
Publications
edit- No Place Like Home (1986).
- The Inconvenience of Being Born (1999).
- On the Street 1980–1990 (2006).
- The Fourth Wall (2008).
- After Images (2013).
Collections
editHer work is held in the following public collections:
- New York Public Library.[15]
- Museum of Modern Art, New York.[16]
References
edit- ^ "Anderson Ranch Arts Center". Retrieved December 29, 2014.
- ^ "MEET OUR FACULTY | NORD Photography". www.nordphotography.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
- ^ Als, Hilton (May 19, 2008). "Show People". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
- ^ "Amy Arbus Photography | About | Bio". www.amyarbus.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
- ^ Thurman, Judith (October 13, 2003). "Exposure Time". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
- ^ Heron, Liz; Williams, Val (January 1, 1996). Illuminations: Women Writing on Photography from the 1850s to the Present. Duke University Press. ISBN 0822317923.
- ^ a b Goldberg, Vicki (March 20, 2014). "Amy Arbus: 'On the Street 1980–1990'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
- ^ a b AnOther (April 28, 2015). "Amy Arbus on 80s Street Style Photography". AnOther. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
- ^ "NPR Exclusive: On The Street, Then And Now". NPR.org. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
- ^ Arbus, Amy; Homes, A. M (January 1, 2006). On the street: 1980–1990. New York: Welcome Books. ISBN 1599620154. OCLC 65978538.
- ^ "On the Street". welcomebooks.com. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
- ^ "On the Street". Elephant Eye Films.
- ^ Hammer.ucla.edu Archived September 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Turner, Christopher (October 15, 2006). "Christopher Turner: Desperately seeking Diane?". The Guardian. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
- ^ "Photographs by Amy Arbus - NYPL Digital Collections". digitalcollections.nypl.org. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
- ^ "MuseumofModernArt/collection". GitHub. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
