Social Distance: Intimacy, the Uncanny, and Extimacy in the Photographs of Diane Arbus

Abstract

In a time of worldwide viral pandemic, the work of the American photographer Diane Arbus (1923–71) is pertinent for its ability to remind us that what we think is normal is not normal, that psychological darkness is part of the life balance, and that while close contact can be pleasurable, it can also be extremely uncomfortable, if not fearful. The essay prioritizes the audience’s psychological position in the reading of Arbus’s Untitled photographs made between 1969 and 1971, through using Jacques Lacan’s concept of extimacy. The Untitled work seems to embody Lacan’s concept of extimacy, which provides new insights into the photographs and addresses the lesser-understood psychological rifts created by these iconoclastic works. These psychological perspectives also reflect the extimate nature of our relationships in the current pandemic and contest the centrality of Arbus’s biography in most critiques of her work.