An Emergency in Slow Motion: The Inner Life of Diane Arbus
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Diane Arbus was one of the most brilliant and revered photographers in the history of American art. Her portraits, in stark black and white, seemed to reveal the psychological truths of their subjects. But after she committed suicide at the age of 48 in 1971, the presumed chaos and darkness of her own inner life became, for many viewers, inextricable from her work. ... [This book] reveals the creative and personal struggles of Diane Arbus. [The author] veers from traditional biography to interpret Arbus's life through the prism of four central mysteries: her outcast affinity, her sexuality, the secrets she kept and shared, and her suicide. He seeks not to diagnose Arbus, but to discern some of the private motives behind her public works and acts. In this approach, [the author] not only goes deeper into her life than any previous writer, but provides a template with which to think about the creative life in general.
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Diane Arbus is a fascinating subject. I learned a lot about her from this book.
However, I was annoyed that the author pathologizes Arbus in some instances, but that may be the nature of psychobiography. Also, some conclusions that the author comes up with should be taken with a grain of salt. And the author focuses on single facts or statements of Arbus's and may exaggerate their importance.
The narrator's habit of putting on funny voices for different people is slightly annoying.
I recommend the book if you are an artist, and/or like contemporary/female/artist biographies. Be aware that the book doesn't shy away from disturbing topics such as suicide and incest. Lots of obscure psychology terms that are hard to understand.
