Photographer Diane Arbus is well known in the art world for her unique photographs that capture the marginalised people she found whilst living in New York City, including dwarfs, giants, people of the transgender community, nudists and circus performers - among others. She had a knack for photographing those who's normality was perceived by the general public as ugly or surreal.
However the work that has had the biggest impact on me is some of her most tame and domesticated images. This is because of the contrast between what is seen and perceived on the surface and what is hidden behind the facade that she created. One noted piece by Diane Arbus is her image named "Identical twins."
There is a lot that can be said by this piece, especially in terms of the relationship with it's title. Identical can imply identity - to say that these twins share an identity. This is where we can see that Arbus is possibly trying to be ironic. We cannot judge too much about the background of the twins as there is no indication of their social status which would play a big role in placing their identity - I believe that Arbus has done this (white background, same quite plain clothes and general female hairstyle for the 1960's) to encourage the audience to indeed 'read' the image. So what we are left with is the physicality of the image. What do we see when we assess each girl individually. The girl on the right is smiling. Her eyes are wide and her eye brows raised and slanted the way they are implies she is happy. We can assume that in this moment she is a happy person. The girl on the left is frowning slightly. She has slanted eyes and eyebrows - along with her sloughing posture - that can add to the overall melancholic impression she portrays. This girl looks like a sad person.
In the end, after further dissection of the image, we can see that, although they are twins, they are not identical at all - in terms of the relationship between 'identical' and 'identity'. Diane Arbus, constructed an image that portrays a contradictory idea, and challenges her audience to read images.
Sources:
Clarke, G. (2008). The Photograph.
Editors, B. (n.d.). Diane Arbus Biography. Retrieved October 5, 2015, from The Biography.com website: http://www.biography.com/people/diane-arbus-9187461
Below: "Identical Twins" 1967, Roselle New Jersey"
Below is some of Diane Arbus's other work that applies to the same factors as the photo above.