Diane Arbus
American, 1924-1971
Bishop by the Sea (R), 1964
gelatin silver print
6 3/4 × 10 in.
SBMA, Gift of Jeffrey Fraenkel and Frish Brandt
2019.38.3
Photo of Diane Arbus by Allan Arbus, 1949
“We stand on a precipice, then before a chasm, and as we wait it becomes higher, wider, deeper, but I am crazy enough to think it doesn’t matter which way we leap because when we leap we will have learned to fly. Is that blasphemy or faith?”
- Diane Arbus, from a postcard to Marvin Israel, December 27, 1959 (Phillips 2003, p. 80)
RESEARCH PAPER
An elderly woman with short, curly hair stands on a cliff, her back to the ocean, surrounded by ice plant and salt and air. Behind her sits a horizontal band of bright sky above surf-topped, choppy waters that meet a dark field of foliage. An ombre-like effect occurs when shades of gray are blended and divided as they move down the image. Towards the left of the photograph, the woman’s gauzy wrap floats slightly upwards on an invisible breeze, encouraging us to follow its proposed trajectory from her shoulders into the unknown. Her expression is distant and ecstatic, like martyrs of old seeing wonders invisible to the rest of us. Her iridescent gown glows on a field of shadow like a celestial body. The angled streaks of sun behind her hint at the golden hour, and bring to mind galaxies in the night sky, with illuminated flower blooms appearing behind her like lost stars or errant fireflies. Her dress is fine and ornate; her necklace is chunky; her tiara looks delicate and homemade; her make-up is not quite right, as if an adolescent or a novice drag performer applied it. She holds a large white cross, arms outstretched and welcoming. She is ready.
The subject of the photograph is Ethel Predonzan (aka, Bishop Ethel Predonzan of the Cathedral of The Creator, Omnipresence, Inc.), a New York native and former folk singer, self-described as being ‘crazy for God’. (National Galleries Scotland, pre-2020) Bishop said she was summoned by Christ to Santa Barbara, California in order to await His Second Coming, which was to happen on December 4, 1964. (Arbus 2003, p.169) Bishop also claimed an elaborate history of past lives, including as the elder sister of Jesus Christ, as the wife of Moses, and as Joan of Arc. (Rosenstein, 2015, para 3) In her unpublished article, ‘The Bishop’s Charisma’, Arbus explains that, “The Bishop says that she can see God’s face inside the sun, or at night in her room.” (Berry, 2016, para 2)
The photograph is a gelatin silver print shot using a 2¼ twin-lens reflex Rolleiflex camera. Arbus began using the Rolleiflex in 1962 replacing her 35 mm Nikon SLR. This equipment change marked a new phase in Arbus’s style. The 2¼ camera lent itself to a more direct relationship with the subject, causing the making of the picture to become a deliberate process that required the subject’s cooperation and participation. (Phillips 2003, p.59)
It is obvious Bishop was an eccentric and a seeker, but was she also mentally ill, or was she a prophet? Like most of us, Bishop hoped to connect to the divine in oneself and the universe, but rather than sit quietly in a pew paging through yellowed hymnals, Bishop chose to dance on cliffs. She actively celebrated and surrendered to the mystery, fully embracing her passion. Is this an inappropriate way to approach spirituality, or is it aspirational? Should Bishop be categorized as a devotee like a dervish or a hare krishna, or as someone who is delusional, someone who should be institutionalized? Arbus bore witness to Bishop’s experience and allowed us a glimpse of a woman following her bliss; how we, the viewers, choose to classify Bishop is part of our challenge.
Diane Arbus was born to a wealthy family in New York City in 1923. She married Allan Arbus when she was only 18 years old before he left to serve in WWII where he was trained as a photographer. (IPHF, para 1) Upon his return, they worked together creating fashion photography for advertising and magazine campaigns, including ones for her father’s Manhattan department store. (IPHF, para 2) In 1956 Arbus left the fashion world to study with influential documentary photographer Lisette Model who recognized her talent and encouraged her to pursue her exploration of people on the “fringes of society”. (IPHF, para 3) Arbus separated from Allan in 1959, after which Arbus began a long-term relationship with artist Marvin Israel that lasted until her death. Throughout the 1960’s Arbus’s work garnered both critical and commercial success; she was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1963 and 1966, and her work was included in a number of important group shows. (IPHF, para 3) Arbus took her own life in 1971 at the height of her success. (IPHF, para 4) In 1972, posthumously, Arbus was the first photographer ever to be included in the Venice Biennale. (Kolodkin, L. para1)
Arbus’s work asks us to view the world through her eyes, daring us to see beauty in the unusual, and it challenges us to defy convention in order to explore the depth and complexity of the human experience in an unsanitized way. Much like Steichen's seminal exhibition, ‘The Family of Man’, Arbus’s collected works show us a version of the world around us, but unlike Steichen, Arbus asks us to take off our blinders and gaze directly at that which may repulse, confuse or shame us. If we find the courage to look, perhaps we can gain a deeper, more nuanced understanding of ourselves and the world around us and, by extension, perhaps we will find ourselves feeling a bit closer to God.
Prepared for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Docent Council by Seraphim Albrecht, 2023.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Phillips, Sandra (2003) ‘The Question of Belief’, in “Diane Arbus: Revelations”, pp.50–66; p. 80
Arbus, Doon; Sussman, Elisabeth (2003) ‘A Chronology’, in “Diane Arbus: Revelations”, p.169
Websites
Berry, I. 2016 June. “Diane Arbus”,The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College. Retrieved February 13, 2023, from
https://tang.skidmore.edu/exhibitions/220-diane-arbus
International Photography Hall of Fame (IPHF). “Diane Arbus”. Retrieved February 13, 2023
https://iphf.org/inductees/diane-arbus/
Kolodkin, L. 2018 April. “Diane Arbus: a box of ten photographs”, The Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
https://americanart.si.edu/blog/eye-level/2018/06/57591/diane-arbus-box-ten-photographs-opens-april-6
National Galleries Scotland. Updated before 2020. Diane Arbus, Bishop by the sea, Santa Barbara, Cal.1964. Retrieved February 13, 2023 from
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/92874/bishop-sea-santa-barbara-cal-1964
Rosenstein, T. 2015 November. The University of Edinburgh Tate and National Galleries of Scotland. Retrieved February 13, 2023 from
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/arbus-bishop-by-the-sea-santa-barbara-cal-1964-ar00533
Photos
Photo of Diane Arbus by Alan Arbus, 1949. Diane Arbus, Wikipedia. Retrieved February 13, 2023 from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Arbus#/media/File:Diane-Arbus-1949.jpg
Santa Barbara Cemetery, Santa Barbara, CA. Personal photograph by Seraphim Albrecht. Feb 2023
POSTSCRIPT
Bishop Ethel Predonzan is buried at the Santa Barbara Cemetery, 901 Channel Dr. Her gravestone reads:
Bishop Ethel Predonzan
Messenger of God, Disciple of Christ
1892 - 1971
Beloved one of Victor & Johnny
Photo by Seraphim Albrecht, 2023