Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups : Diane Arbus's Social Panorama

We cite from the introduction: /
"This dissertation proposes a re-examination of the photography of Diane
Arbus by situating her work in terms of the history of the photographic "social
gallery," and exploring the nature of her relationship to this type of portrait
collection. What is here defined as the sodal gallery refers to a group of portraits
arranged by the photographer in agreement with an organizing principle
measured by a specific set of social conditions which varied historically and were
accordant with. different popular pseudo-scientific theories about reading the
body according to typology. Overall, Arbus's work may be read in terms of the
tradition of the social gallery, but it is in fact an "anti-gallery," ultimately
deconstructing the positivist and scientifïc standards ingrained in this genre's
history."