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Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph (1972) is widely considered one of the most influential photography books ever published, cementing Arbus's legacy and permanently altering the trajectory of modern documentary photography.
Published a year after Arbus’s death in conjunction with a major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art curated by John Szarkowski, the book was meticulously designed and edited by her daughter Doon Arbus alongside Marvin Israel. The monograph features a deliberately spare and recessive layout, isolating the images on the right-hand pages with only discreet captions on the left. This design choice forces the viewer into a direct, unmediated confrontation with her subjects. Arbus famously replaced mid-century humanist photography with a vision that was both pitiless and deeply empathetic, focusing on marginalized individuals, performers, and ordinary people whose eccentricities were laid completely bare.
This very first printing of the book is the only publication to include the image Two girls in identical raincoats, Central Park, N.Y.C., 1969. While the book was reprinted many times, the plate was abruptly removed from all subsequent printings and editions.
While official archival records on the removal are sparse, it is widely understood within the photobook community that the family of the young subjects objected to the photograph's inclusion, prompting the publisher to pull the image entirely. Consequently, this abrupt modification to the publication's layout renders the true first edition a scarce and historically significant volume.
Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph (1972) is widely considered one of the most influential photography books ever published, cementing Arbus's legacy and permanently altering the trajectory of modern documentary photography.
Published a year after Arbus’s death in conjunction with a major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art curated by John Szarkowski, the book was meticulously designed and edited by her daughter Doon Arbus alongside Marvin Israel. The monograph features a deliberately spare and recessive layout, isolating the images on the right-hand pages with only discreet captions on the left. This design choice forces the viewer into a direct, unmediated confrontation with her subjects. Arbus famously replaced mid-century humanist photography with a vision that was both pitiless and deeply empathetic, focusing on marginalized individuals, performers, and ordinary people whose eccentricities were laid completely bare.
This very first printing of the book is the only publication to include the image Two girls in identical raincoats, Central Park, N.Y.C., 1969. While the book was reprinted many times, the plate was abruptly removed from all subsequent printings and editions.
While official archival records on the removal are sparse, it is widely understood within the photobook community that the family of the young subjects objected to the photograph's inclusion, prompting the publisher to pull the image entirely. Consequently, this abrupt modification to the publication's layout renders the true first edition a scarce and historically significant volume.