Diane Arbus: Sanctum Sanctorum

A new collection of photographs by Diane Arbus illuminates her singular ability to enter private worlds.

Diane Arbus: Sanctum Sanctorum brings together forty-four photographs made in private places across New York, New Jersey, California, and London between 1961 and 1971.

Through her singular combination of intelligence, charisma, intuition, and courage, Diane Arbus (1923–1971) was frequently invited into personal realms seldom seen by strangers. Though made in intimate settings, the photographs collected in this volume convey no sense of intrusion or trespass—instead, they reveal an unspoken exchange between photographer and subject, a moment of recognition in which confidences emerge freely and without judgment.

Arbus’s desire to know people embraced a vast spectrum of humanity. Her subjects featured in Sanctum Sanctorum include debutantes, nudists, celebrities, aspiring celebrities, socialites, transvestites, babies, widows, circus performers, lovers, female impersonators, and a blind couple in their bedroom. Through a fresh consideration of little-known photographs among works that may be more familiar, this publication invites viewers to discover aspects of even well-known images that have previously gone unnoticed.