Genius 5

Who said “The camera gave license to strip away what you want people to know about you, to reveal what you can’t help knowing about you?

Diane Arbus

Do photographers tend to pray on vulnerable people?

It can appear as though photographers seem to prey on vulnerable people because people who aren’t considered “normal” are often captured. This, however, is not the case. These supposedly vulnerable people can be captured for several reasons; out of curiosity, interest or because they are being shown or representing in a way that we are unfamiliar with.

Who is Colin Wood?

Colin Wood was the skinny boy in one of Diane Arbus’ famous photographs, taken in 1962. She photographed him in Central Park and took several photos of him; the selected one was of him clutching a grenade in one of his hands. This manic looking boy described violence.

Why do you think Diane Arbus committed suicide?

I believe Arbus committed suicide because she wanted to be anyone but herself and this can be seen through her photographs; she recognised the anxieties of her subjects and could empathise with them.

Why and how did Larry Clark shoot ‘Tulsa’?

Tulsa was the home town of Larry Clark, his photos from ’Tulsa’ by were captured being an insider on the situation he was photographing rather than an outsider. The photos were like a personal and confessional diary of the situations he was around.

Try to explain the concept of “confessional photography” and what is the “Impolite genre”?

Confessional photography is like an inside, candid account of real life, with transsexuals, drug, addicts .etc. The impolite genre refers to photographs of subjects that don’t want to be known about in a lot of respects, generally nasty representations of real life.

What is the premise of Post-Modernism?

An obsession with the media.