Retired Man and his Wife at Home in a Nudist Camp One Morning in N.J. On the Television Set are Framed Photographs of Each Other, from the portfolio A Box of Ten Photographs

Arbus’s postwar photographs of marginalized communities and subcultures constitute a departure from previous modes of portraiture. The directness of her work and the vulnerability of her subjects presaged later practitioners of candid photography such as Nan Goldin. As in much of Arbus’s work, the details in this portrait offer crucial information about the sitters’ identities. She captures their relaxed poses and warm smiles as well as a framed poster of a pin-up woman and a photograph of a nude figure on top of the television—echoing Arbus’s own photograph.