Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon’s work also sparked my interest in portraiture as well as fashion photography, which I have never really been interested in. His extensive and famed portraits of celebrities and fashion photographs helped to define style, beauty, and pop culture in America for the latter portion of the twentieth century. Avedon photographed some of the most renown celebrities in the world, including artists like Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, writers like Aldous Huxley and Henry Kissinger,  musicians like Louis Armstrong, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, and The Beatles,  and actors like Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn. After viewing Avedon’s work and learning about his life through his documentary, I really began to see fashion as a lively and interesting art form, which reflects cultural trends in society and changes in aesthetic conceptions.  

I have a lot of respect for artists like Avedon, who push the boundaries of what is considered acceptable within their art forms and who are willing to deviate from the social norms. A quotation by Avedon that I will always remember is that “all art is meant to disturb.”  Most fashion photographs of the time showed models as emotionless and detached from the camera, but the subjects of Avedon’s photographs were generally very vibrant, full of emotion, and often in movement. People who worked with Avedon explained him as extremely energetic when working with models, and one person said that he would be jumping around and moving more than his subjects would be during their photo shoots. He is famous for his large prints and well-lit black and white portraits in front of white backdrops. He is able to show such clear and intricate detail in the faces of his subjects, which make his portraits so enthralling.

Avedon also changed the general notion that in portraiture photography the subject is in control of the photo, and instead always assumed control of his photographs as the photographer. He always had a strong artistic vision and was not willing to compromise it for the wants or desires of his subjects. Avedon was very determined to capture the souls and personalities of his subjects and would sometimes ask very personal, provoking, and even uncomfortable questions to them in order to elicit a reaction and capture an expression that was not captured by other photographers. He was also famous, however, for making his subjects very comfortable and at ease, which allowed him to capture very intimate photographs that were also unparalleled. 

                  Avedon also photographed miners and workers in the American West in the early 80s, and his book of images became one of his bestsellers, but was also criticized for denigrating the west. One of his western subjects, Sandra Bennett, criticized Avedon for making her look so grungy and solemn in her portrait and for her freckles being so visible. Avedon responded that there is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph and that “all photographs are accurate,” but that “none of them is the truth.” In a way, I agree with him because photographs are exact reflections of what the human eye sees through the lens of the camera, and the truth is ambiguous. However, I think that some of his strategies to evoke certain emotions and reactions in his subjects were a little manipulative and deceiving. Regardless, it is undeniable that Avedon will continue to be remembered as one of the best portrait and fashion photographers in the world, and his photographs will live on and continue to inspire and fascinate viewers.