Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus: Portrait of a Photographer vividly brings one of the great American artists of the twentieth century into focus. Arbus comes to life on these pages, a strong-minded child of disconcerting originality who grew into a formidable photographer of unflinching courage. Arbus forged an intimacy with her subjects that has inspired generations of artists. Arresting, unsettling, and poignant, her photographs stick in our minds. Why did these people fascinate her? And what was it about her that captivated them? In this definitive biography, Arthur Lubow brushes aside the clichés that have long surrounded Arbus and her work. It is a magnificently absorbing biography of this unique, hugely influential artist.

Arthur Lubow has been a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, a staff writer at The New Yorker, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. He received a Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman fellowship, a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship, and a James Beard Award, and is a fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities.