Diane Arbus mini for me

(Teenagers in N.Y.C)

I first heard Diane Arbus's name spoken in one of my MFA classes in NYC a few years ago, around the time the film 'Fur' was released. Her images had haunted me long before however; and who doesn't know that famous, creepy twins photo that the creepy twins in 'The Shining' were based on.? I became obsessed and tracked down 'Fur' when it arrived on dvd. Interestingly, the movie is considered a 'fictional portrait' of her, rather than it being a movie/doc based on her life. (Apparently there was trouble with the surviving members of the family concerning making a film based on her biography) Honestly, the film is much more piercing this way. It's incredibly achingly sad and inspiring; and Robert Downey Jr. has never been so sexy in a movie as he is in this, despite you never seeing his face (which is covered in hair) until the end of the film. Rent it, buy it, watch it now, you will not be disappointed. 

 

I read her biography diligently last summer when I should have been writing my thesis and therefore cemented my eternal love for her life and her life's devotion to capturing the freaks and underbelly of society on film. She shot mainly with a Rolleiflex medium format twin-lens reflex camera, one that enabled her to make her subjects comfortable because it is worn around the neck and sits low at the waist; never being brought up to the photographers eye. (in many cases too comfortable, as she had a uncanny talent for capturing many people 'unmasked')

Which brings me to the object I stumbled on today during one of my many internet voyages:

This is a tiny, digital replica of the Rolleiflex twin lens Arbus shot with!  & & & &

It's available here, at my favorite guilty pleasure place to shop, for the ungodly price of 399$ for such a tiny tiny. However, should I magically stumble upon such amount, I would make the investment....it even still retains it's sneaky integrity; as it's worn here like an accessory!