Outsiders

Photographers have long focused their lenses on the “outsiders”—the marginalized, the underdog, the poor, the victims of social injustices, the visually underrepresented, the exotic, the freaks, and the transgressive. Specialized publications served those belonging to underground subcultures, but photobooks—with their emphasis on reproductions, design, and the possibility of the long form essay—became the photographers’ mainstay to reach a wide audience and to preserve their legacy. Photographers Weegee (Arthur Fellig), William Klein, and W. Eugene Smith utilized the print press and magazines as vehicles for their work while also actively publishing books. Diane Arbus, Roy DeCarava, Charles Gatewood, Danny Lyon, and Larry Clark relied almost entirely on monographs and exhibitions for the dissemination of their photographs.