(born March 14, 1923, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died July 26, 1971, New York City) U.S. photographer. The sister of the poet and critic Howard Nemerov, she worked as a fashion photographer in the 1950s. From about 1955 to 1957 she studied with documentary photographer Lisette Model.
She published her first photo-essay, for Esquire, in 1960. In the 1960s she began to explore the subjects that would occupy her for much of her career: individuals living on the outskirts of society and “normalcy,” such as nudists, transvestites, dwarfs, and the mentally or physically handicapped. Her own evident intimacy with the subjects of her photos resulted in images that engage the sympathy and collusion of the viewer and elicit a strong response. During this period she mastered her technique of using a square format and flash lighting, which gives her work a sense of theatricality and surrealism. In 1971 Arbus committed suicide.
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