Anne Carson,

Autobiography of Red
AUTO-
Biography /
Photography
Diane Arbus
(1923-1971)
Diane Arbus
(1923-1971)

• Controversial photojournalist
Diane Arbus
(1923-1971)

• “Much of the controversy

surrounding Diane Arbus’ work
involves her use of the mentally or
physically handicapped as subjects,
which, in the 60s and 70s and to this
day, inspired accusations of
exploitation from some quarters.”
Diane Arbus
(1923-1971)

• “Most people go through life

dreading they'll have a traumatic
experience. Freaks were born with
their trauma. They've already
passed their test in life. They're
aristocrats.”

(Diane Arbus)
Diane Arbus
(1923-1971)
• Child With Toy
Hand Grenade
in Central
Park, New
York City,
1962

• (Geryon with
wings
concealed)

• “expressing
with broken
brain the
truth about
us”
Diane Arbus
(1923-1971)
• Girl With
Cigar in
Washington
Square, New
York City,
1965

• Mother,
with
cigarette
Diane Arbus
(1923-1971)
• Two Boys
Smoking in
Central Park,
New York
City, 1962
Diane Arbus
(1923-1971)
• Puerto Rican
Woman with
Beauty Mark,
New York
City, 1965
Weegee, né Usher/Arther Felig
(1899-1968)

• Photojournalist
• His images of human
tragedy/suffering and the gritty,
idiosyncratic reality of urban life
appeared frequently in the New York
City press in the 1930s and 40s.
Weegee,
(1899-1968)

• Simply
Add
Boiling
Water,
1937
Weegee,
(1899-1968)

• Man
Covering
Face
From
Smoke,
1943
Weegee,
(1899-1968)

• Lost
Children,
1941

• Out of
place
Weegee,
(1899-1968)

• Girls at
the Bar,
1946
Weegee,
(1899-1968)

• Couple in
Voodoo
Trance,
1956
Weegee,
(1899-1968)

• At an East
Side Murder,
1943

• The
spectacle
of life
Weegee,
(1899-1968)

• Joy of Living,
1942

• The
spectacle
of trauma
and
suffering
Weegee,
(1899-1968)

• Space
Patrol, 1954

• Cf.
Geryon’s
strategies
of masking
Cindy Sherman
(b. 1954)

“Self-Portraits”

• Cf. Geryon’s autobiography in

images
• Sometimes with images of self
• Sometimes self performing in
another role
– i.e., self as not self,… as self
• Sometimes without “self”
Cindy Sherman
(b. 1954)
“Self-Portraits”

“What could I possibly do when I want to stop

using myself and don’t want “other people”
in the photos?”
o Dummies
o Photos of other people in the photo
o Parts of the body (no face)
o Shadows
o Empty (no people at all) scenes
o Wear masks
o Blur the face
Cindy Sherman
Self as Spectacle

Her work is broken down into several

groups, among them:
o The Untitled Film Stills
o Fairy Tale Disasters
o History Portraits
o The Sex Pictures
Cindy Sherman
Self as Spectacle

• Sherman’s “exploded selves”

• Linked to the grotesque, monstrous
body

• Geryon’s exploded self?

Untitled film still #3, 1977
Untitled film still
#7, 1978
Untitled film still
#35, 1979
Untitled #90, 1981
Untitled #153,
1985
Untitled #272,
1992
Untitled # 305, 1994
Untitled # 188, 1989
Untitled # 342
Untitled 2003
Untitled 2003
Untitled 2004
Untitled 2004
Untitled 2004
Untitled 2004
Untitled #302, 1993
Untitled #316, 1995

• Self as
monstrous
Self-Portrait composed
of things other than the Self
• A visual
autobiograph
y of other
images
Self-Portrait composed
of things other than the Self
• “There is
no person
without a
world” (82).

• “reality is a
web” (58).
Self-Portrait composed
of things other than the Self
• “Black
mantle of
silence
stretches
between
them like
geothermal
pressure”
(48).
Self-Portrait composed
of things other than the Self
• “Geryon kept
the camera in
his hand and
spoke little. I
am
disappearing,
the thought but
the
photographs
are worth it. A
volcano is not a
mountain like
others. Raising
a camera to
one’s face has
effects no one
Self-Portrait composed
of things other than the Self
Self-Portrait composed
of things other than the Self