Untitled By Diane Arbus: Painting Analysis

At first glance this picture might not seem like much, for the most part there is an eerily blank background. The collection of photographs “Untitled” by Diane Arbus was centered on showing the public a glimpse of what it was like being held at a mental hospital. There are four girls in the picture, all of which are covering their faces with a mask of some sort. The timing and ambience might give off the impression that they are celebrating Halloween however the absence of traditional Halloween items such as a trick or treat bag or stuff like jack o’lanterns can make someone think this is just a normal day. It makes you stop and ask yourself, why do they feel the need to cover their faces? Have we put so much shame on these children and their
mental illnesses that they feel as though they are forced to cover their faces? The Dorfman article brings up a good point, stating “In some images the masks seem so much part of the person that it’s possible the people wore masks before and after October 31.”. One might think this could be classified as horror, however is the real horror what occurs to people that do not acknowledge their mental illnesses and continue to live with them day by day? Our continued mistreatment of mental health patients in the past have lead to the stigma associated with mental illnesses today and as a result we see so many people feel as though they must hide their faces when it comes to mental illnesses as we can see in the photograph.