Mae West
Once Upon Our Time
In late 1964, Diane Arbus spent two days at the Santa Monica home of the legendary film star Mae West. The photoessay and accompanying text (also written by Arbus) was published in Show magazine in January 1965, originally under the title “Emotion in Motion” and later “Once Upon Our Time.” In her typical wry, penetrating manner, Arbus captured an honest, if not harsh portrait of the 71-year-old West as an aging, bygone starlet, dressed in a négligée and recounting salacious stories from her Hollywood heydays.
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A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.
Diane Arbus
photo credit: Eva Rubinstein