Diane Arbus
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Albino Sword Swallower at a Carnival, MD, 1970
Diane Arbus was an American photographer known for taking photographs of marginalised people dwarfs, giants, transgender people, circus performers and nudists. In the early 1960s, Arbus began producing compelling portraits of people on the outskirts of society, including clowns, exotic dancers, circus performers, and transvestites; she received widespread recognition for these works. Arbus also became known for her eerie photographs of children, intimate portraits of famous figures, and urban scenes.
Nan Goldin
The Ballad of Sexual Dependency – The Hug, 1980
Nan Goldin is an American photographer. She is known for work that includes LGBT- related themes, images or public figures. The Ballad of Sexual Dependency is a 1985 slide show exhibition and 1986 artist’s book publication of photographs taken between 1979 and 1986. It is an autobiographical document of a portion of New York City’s No wave music and art scene, the post-stonewall guy subculture of the late 1970s and early 1980s, the heroin subculture of the Boweryneighborhood, and Goldin’s personal family and love life.
Larry Clark
Tulsa – Accidental Gunshot Wound, 1971
Larry Clark is an American film director and photographer who is best known for his controversial film “Kids”(1995) and his photography book “Tulsa”. His work focuses primarily on youth who casually engage in illegal drug use, underage sex, and violence, and who are part of a specific subculture, such as surfing, punk rock or skateboarding.Tulsa is a collection of black-and-white photographs by Larry Clark of the life of young people in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Richard Billingham
Ray’s a Laugh, 1996
Richard Billingham is an English photographer and artist who is best known for his photo book Ray’s a Laugh which documents the life of his alcoholic father and his obese, heavily tattooed mother. Ray’s a Laugh is a portrayal of the poverty and deprivation in which he grew up. The photographs, which were taken on the cheapest film he could find, provide brash colours and bad focus which adds to the authenticity and frankness of the series.
Philip Lorca diCorcia
‘ Hustlers’ – Gerald Hughes (a.k.a. Savage Fantasy), about 25 years old, Southern California.
Philip-Lorca diCorcia (born 1951) is an American photographer. DiCorcia alternates between informal snapshots and iconic quality staged compositions that often have a baroque theatricality. Using a carefully planned staging, he takes everyday occurrences beyond the realm of banality, trying to inspire in his picture’s spectators an awareness of the psychology and emotion contained in real-life situations. His work could be described as documentary photography mixed with the fictional world of cinema and advertising, which creates a powerful link between reality, fantasy and desire.
Philip-Lorca diCorcia’s dark and defining series, Hustlers, was shot against a backdrop of devastation and despair during the AIDS pandemic in the late 1980s and early 90s.
Shannon Kearney 