LAUSR

A s a photographer and psychoanalyst, I have been intrigued by what makes a portrait memorable. How do photographer and subject collaborate in producing an iconic image? In my own work as a photographer and writer, I have explored the relational image, which can be defined as the new visual/emotional event created when two mutually vulnerable partners come to see one another in an entirely fresh way. This essay is a further exploration of the relational image, through a close examination of two biographies: Portrait of a Life: Melanie Klein and the Artists (2019), by Roger Amos, and Diane Arbus: Portrait of a Photographer (2016), by Arthur Lubow. The juxtaposition of these two remarkable women, one as the portrayed, the other as the portrayer, provides an exciting palette of contrasts and similarities in which to explore portraiture and psychoanalysis through the relational image.