This image always strikes me. To begin with it is a very intimate setting, which nowadays would be normal in a Instagram Selfie made by someone who has picked up film and is exploring the art. But here we have one shot in 1966 by a third party, who happens to be the wonder generating Diane Arbus. When I first saw this image my mind froze with a million questions...
How did Diane Arbus get in there? How did she convince them? How were they so at ease that the girl is willing to share such an intimate moment with Diane Arbus? How did Diane Arbus capture the moment and protect their pride at the same time? And finally, what is with that key?
Lets dive into the mechanics of the image. Here we have the subject of a young woman sitting naked in bed with her boyfriend. Light is coming from a window that cannot be seen off to the left of the image. The room is dark and bare, as if this is the couples first apartment together, or a room of a male bachelor who does not see the need to decorate. The light, highlights the woman's back while her entire left side (picture right) is allowed to fall into the shadows. But there is just enough light to hit her nose and shed some light on her face.
You have the highlights in the sheets and the true black in a comforter that looks simple. There is no design in the sheets or comforter. The entire rooms seems utilitarian in nature. Like a boarding room, or some other temporary living arrangement. The boyfriend is in the background and he appears to be laying on his stomach and his face is to the wall. Almost as if he wants to sleep and is turning away from the light of the window light and the conversation of the women. The wall is a bland gray, but the light gives it just the hint of textures.
How did Diane Arbus get in there? How did she convince them? How were they so at ease that the girl is willing to share such an intimate moment with Diane Arbus? How did Diane Arbus capture the moment and protect their pride at the same time? And finally, what is with that key?
Lets dive into the mechanics of the image. Here we have the subject of a young woman sitting naked in bed with her boyfriend. Light is coming from a window that cannot be seen off to the left of the image. The room is dark and bare, as if this is the couples first apartment together, or a room of a male bachelor who does not see the need to decorate. The light, highlights the woman's back while her entire left side (picture right) is allowed to fall into the shadows. But there is just enough light to hit her nose and shed some light on her face.
You have the highlights in the sheets and the true black in a comforter that looks simple. There is no design in the sheets or comforter. The entire rooms seems utilitarian in nature. Like a boarding room, or some other temporary living arrangement. The boyfriend is in the background and he appears to be laying on his stomach and his face is to the wall. Almost as if he wants to sleep and is turning away from the light of the window light and the conversation of the women. The wall is a bland gray, but the light gives it just the hint of textures.
Compositionally speaking, the woman is sitting in the upper right quadrant (quadrant 1) of the image and this is where our eye is drawn to. Here we have the human face as the focal point.
The boyfriend lays along the horizontal, dividing the image in two with only the back of his head intruding into Quadrant 2. The bed takes up the bottom half of the image, giving it a great deal of real estate which is interesting and telling of the photograph and what Diane Arbus was trying to communicate. The brightest area of the picture, where our eyes are drawn to after searching the human element, is in Quadrant 3. The gives us a triangular pattern for our eyes to naturally follow (shown with the blue line below). We are then left to wander the rest of the image, giving us the details that are so poignant in this image. The rumpled bed, the wall and finally the key...oh that key. |
The square format gives us the option for simple composition and it is used to great strength here. But the odd aspect of this image is that key. It is an old style key, and its dark tone gives it an even more aged appearance. Sitting all by itself on the wall, as if hung there because the previous tenants left a nail on the wall, but sitting by itself, without any other objects around it.
It draws in my mind a wonderful parallel with the young girl, who is sitting alone (minus the photographer) as her boyfriend sleeps. She is also alone, faced with a different set of societal expectations and judgement that her boyfriend is not subject to. Consider now the lighting and how it falls. We think we see her face, in fact, each time I remember this image I can clearly remember her face yet when I look at the image again, I realize that we cannot really see her face. We see a hint at an expression, one of patience and wisdom beyond her age. But it is just a hint, her features lost to us. If we encountered her on the street we would not recognize her. She is every young woman, our sisters, daughters and friends. |
Her hair, highlighted on the left and shadowed on the right, frames her face. Her ribs are visible on her side, indicative of the thin-ness that sometimes accompanies youth. It helps give us a feel for her age. Her boyfriend is also hidden from us. Just a head of curls, a thin arm cradling his head gives us the feeling of youth and inexperience. This feeling is supported by the lack of decorations in the room perhaps indicating a lack of economic means.
This is an image whose story is told in its shadows not by the light. If the woman was older, more expressive the image would become more vulgar and convey something different. This image is made innocent by the open, patient look of the young girl. She is sharing a moment with the photographer, and through the camera with the viewer, as if a secret understanding is shared. She knows what she is doing, what she risks and the price that might have to be paid. She he seems resigned to it, but she must also be true to herself and accept the price that must be paid for that right.
This is a simple composition, simple lighting but the image is filled with such emotional messaging. I do not believe that Diane Arbus thought of all this when she pressed the shutter. She was drawn, as all photographers, to a calling to press the shutter without understanding the why. But once captured, she has left us this gift for us to dive into.
Consider for a moment, how someone else would have captured the image. Richard Avedon, would have gotten in close to the girl, filled the camera lens with her wonderful features while allowing the background to blow out. Perhaps he would have captured her waste up. The image would have been an obvious portrait of her. It would have been a wonderful image but it would not have been this image.
Here, Diane Arbus is telling us a story. Here, she brings half of the story to us, and allows us to bring the rest. The floating key above their heads might be interpreted as something completely different. Perhaps, to another viewer that key might represent the opening of opportunities, or the locking of a secret door, keeping everyone out. All of these interrelations are valid, none contradict the portion of the story that Diane Arbus brings to us. But the girl keeps looking at us. The boyfriend keeps sleeping. The key continues to represent everything about this image and nothing at all.
The brilliance of the masters of photography is not in their camera choice, or camera settings. Their genius is found in two places, first is that composition they see to capture a moment and the second is in the selection of that image, the editing down from the hundreds of others, to select this image. The image that has the character to carry so much more than a simple monochrome image.
This is an image whose story is told in its shadows not by the light. If the woman was older, more expressive the image would become more vulgar and convey something different. This image is made innocent by the open, patient look of the young girl. She is sharing a moment with the photographer, and through the camera with the viewer, as if a secret understanding is shared. She knows what she is doing, what she risks and the price that might have to be paid. She he seems resigned to it, but she must also be true to herself and accept the price that must be paid for that right.
This is a simple composition, simple lighting but the image is filled with such emotional messaging. I do not believe that Diane Arbus thought of all this when she pressed the shutter. She was drawn, as all photographers, to a calling to press the shutter without understanding the why. But once captured, she has left us this gift for us to dive into.
Consider for a moment, how someone else would have captured the image. Richard Avedon, would have gotten in close to the girl, filled the camera lens with her wonderful features while allowing the background to blow out. Perhaps he would have captured her waste up. The image would have been an obvious portrait of her. It would have been a wonderful image but it would not have been this image.
Here, Diane Arbus is telling us a story. Here, she brings half of the story to us, and allows us to bring the rest. The floating key above their heads might be interpreted as something completely different. Perhaps, to another viewer that key might represent the opening of opportunities, or the locking of a secret door, keeping everyone out. All of these interrelations are valid, none contradict the portion of the story that Diane Arbus brings to us. But the girl keeps looking at us. The boyfriend keeps sleeping. The key continues to represent everything about this image and nothing at all.
The brilliance of the masters of photography is not in their camera choice, or camera settings. Their genius is found in two places, first is that composition they see to capture a moment and the second is in the selection of that image, the editing down from the hundreds of others, to select this image. The image that has the character to carry so much more than a simple monochrome image.