Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph: Fortieth-Anniversary Edition Paperback – September 30, 2012

Arbus started out as a fashion photographer and then set out to turn her focus inside-out, as it were. That took guts as well as curiosity. That's why this is a landmark collection of work in spite of the fact that her career tragically ended at a young age.

My girlfriend has her 4 year degree in fine art/photography and she loves this book. Diane Arbus was especially unique in that she is the classic form of a "turn around". She was a known fashion photographer that literally turned her work around and started taking pictures of average to normally unseen people in their everyday lives. Some of it people may think was a slight weird but myself as a musician appreciates every photo in this book. They are all very interesting. It's very unfortunate that she only got serious recognition after her suicide. I would recommend this book to literally anyone to be honest but most people wouldn't want to spend the money on an art book. It's a great collection of photos that I found very interesting and I'm sure you would find very cool as well. If you like Arbus's work, I definitely recommend this book to you.

The quality of the book, itself, is topnotch. Great forward, great quality prints, and the photos speak for themselves. It wasn't well-packed at all and considering the condition of the box when it came, I'm shocked it wasn't damaged. But that speaks of the distributor, not the book.

Arbus was attracted to the strange, the deformed, the marginalized. Her photos are so intimate, you sometimes want to look away from the faces staring back at you, saying "I am here on the margin and now you will not forget me." This book established Arbus as one of the most important photographers of all time. Her ability to capture intimate and revealing photos is based on the relationships she forms with her subjects, many of which she maintained for a lifetime. A photographer on the edge by going to the edge and peering over. Extremely powerful, Arbus takes risks that most photographers would not dream of. Courageous and extremely important in the pantheon of American Modern art.

I became acquainted with the work of Diane Arbus after seeing references and photographs of one of her teachers, Lisette Model. Both did much of their work with twin lens reflex cameras, notably the Rolleiflex and Mamiya, with their main themes being ordinary people in the midst of their lives, most often interesting because, while ordinary, were in their various ways, extraordinary. I find exceptions much more interesting than rules and Arbus, like Model, created compelling images, straight and direct, with no intruding fancies or interpretations. The pictures say it all, telling their own stories, but allowing the viewer to make of them what they will.

Nice book with Arbus's iconic works.

I recently bought this book as a gift for my goddaughter, who's in the 11th grade. I went back to my copy, which I haven't looked at in 25 years or so. The images are as powerful today as they were then. Arbus demanded that we adjust what we expect of photography and its subjects. Her book is NOT a freak show, but you may react strongly to some of her photos as if it were. Ask yourself why.

Gorg!! Perfect coffee book for a conversation starter.. and so very unique

Great book to read alongside the aperture monograph book to reference the background to all the photos when reading the book...

Good work, very well printed. I don't like totally the Diane Arbus style, but this book represents an important milestone in the history of photography

This is a great gift for anyone interested in Arbus, or just people photography. Wonderful book and unusually inexpensive for a book of its kind.

Superb collection from a giant in the world of people photography. Good sized book with excellent quality reproductions, highly recommended.

i came across this photographer through her film and her book won't let anynone down.A lot of the works we are praising these days drink from her.