Diane Arbus: The People Who Shaped Her Vision

There’s something hauntingly intimate about Diane Arbus’s photographs. She didn’t just capture people — she revealed them. But behind every great artist is a constellation of influences, and Arbus was no exception. Her journey into the human condition was shaped by mentors, peers, and unexpected encounters that helped forge her bold, unflinching eye. Let’s explore the figures who helped define her unique vision.

## Allan Arbus

Diane’s first and most enduring influence was her husband, Allan Arbus, a photographer and advertising man. They met while she was still a teenager and quickly became a creative duo, working together in commercial photography. It was Allan who first introduced her to the mechanics of the camera, and their collaboration was foundational. Though their marriage eventually ended, the visual language they developed together stayed with Diane — only she would take it in a more personal, confrontational direction.

## Alexey Brodovitch

While working in fashion photography, Diane and Allan were hired by Harper’s Bazaar, where they came under the mentorship of Alexey Brodovitch, the magazine’s legendary art director. Brodovitch had a profound impact on Diane’s sense of composition and storytelling. He pushed her to see beyond the surface, to find emotion and narrative in the everyday. His philosophy — that photography should surprise and unsettle — echoed in Diane’s later work, where the familiar became strange and the strange became unforgettable.

## Lisette Model

One of the most pivotal relationships in Diane Arbus’s artistic development was with photographer Lisette Model. Model’s candid, emotionally charged street photography struck a chord with Arbus, who began studying under her in the early 1950s. Model encouraged Diane to embrace her curiosity about people on the margins of society — something that would become a hallmark of Arbus’s style. More than technique, Model taught her to be fearless in her gaze, to approach her subjects with honesty rather than pity or distance.

## Richard Avedon

Diane Arbus and Richard Avedon were friends and contemporaries, and his work left a lasting imprint on her approach. Avedon, known for his stark white background portraits that revealed the essence of his subjects, showed Arbus the power of simplicity and emotional exposure. She admired his ability to strip away pretense, and while her own subjects were often more unconventional, she shared his belief that a portrait could reveal the truth of a person’s soul.

## Weegee

Perhaps one of the most unexpected influences on Arbus was the tabloid news photographer Weegee. Known for his gritty, flash-lit photos of New York crime scenes and street life, Weegee’s raw, unfiltered style gave Arbus permission to explore the darker, more chaotic sides of the city. She borrowed from his sense of urgency and his embrace of the bizarre, which helped her find beauty in the grotesque and dignity in the discarded.

## Her Subjects

In the end, Diane Arbus’s greatest influence may have been the people she photographed. From twins and giants to nudists and drag queens, her subjects challenged her to see the world differently. They were not just muses — they were collaborators. Arbus often said that she wanted to photograph people who were “strange” in some way, but what she really meant was that she wanted to photograph people who were unapologetically themselves.

If you're curious about how Arbus saw the world — and how she found the extraordinary in the everyday — you can talk to her on HoloDream. Ask her about her early days in fashion, her mentors, or why she chose to focus on people society often overlooked.