Flora Knapp Dickinson, Honorary Regent of the Washington Heights Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, N.Y.C. 1960

This black and white photograph of Flora Knapp Dickinson was captured by Diane Arbus. Arbus often photographed people on the margins of society but also turned her lens towards those of high society, in this case, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Arbus had a gift for capturing the humanity of her subjects. Here, Dickinson stands formally dressed in her home, but there’s an undeniable vulnerability in her posture, the slight downturn of her mouth, and the way her hands are clasped. We see a woman embodying tradition and status, but we also sense the loneliness of an individual life. “A photograph,” Arbus once said, “is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.” Arbus's work invites us to consider how identity is both performed and experienced. Dickinson’s regalia speaks to her role in preserving a particular narrative of American history. But Arbus’s lens reveals the complexities and contradictions inherent in such representations. Through Arbus’s eyes, Dickinson becomes more than a symbol, she becomes a person, inviting us to contemplate the intricacies of identity, history, and representation.