15. Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon was best known for his fashion photography and the
minimalistic portraits that changed the world of fashion. He shot photographs
for such well known fashion magazines as Harper's Bazaar and Vogue, capturing
the emotion and movement of his models, a huge leap from the usual motionless,
still fashion photography.
He was born in New York City on May 15th, 1923. His mother, Anna Avedon was part of a family of dress manufacturers and his father, Jacob Israel Avedon owned a clothing store called 'Avedon's Fifth Avenue', so from the start he was brought into the world of fashion. He instantly took a great interest in fashion, and he would enjoy photographing the clothing in his father's store. At the age of 12, he joined the Young Men's Hebrew Association Camera Club.
“One evening my father and I were walking down Fifth Avenue looking at the store windows. In front of the Plaza Hotel, I saw a bald man with a camera posing a very beautiful woman against a tree. He lifted his head, adjusted her dress a little bit and took some photographs. Later, I saw the picture in Harper's Bazaar. I didn't understand why he'd taken her against that tree until I got to Paris a few years later: the tree in front of the Plaza had that same peeling bark you see all over the Champs-Elysees.”
In 1944 Avedon attended the New School for Social Research in New York City to study photography under Alexey Brodovitch, the director of Harper's Bazaar. The two formed a close bond and within a year Avedon was hired as a staff photographer for the magazine. He photographed the daily life in New York City for several years before he was assigned to cover the spring and fall fashion collections in Paris. Throughout the late 1940's and early 1950's he created elegant black-and-white photographs showing the latest fashion in real-life settings, including the picturesque cafes of Paris, cabarets and streetcars.
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| Dovima with Elephants, Cirque d'Hiver. Paris, 1955 |
He was already a very well-known, established, talented young photographer in the fashion world, in 1955 he made fashion and photography history when he photographed this image in the circus. This was the most famous photograph of the shoot, and it has now become one of the most iconic photographs in the fashion world. THe image features the most famous model of the time in a black Dior evening gown, with a long white sash, posed between two elephants. She holds the trunk of one elephant while reaching towards the other, with her back composed in an easy arch. The image is still one of the most iconic and striking fashion photographs of all time. He worked at Harper's Bazaar from 1945 to 1965.
As well as his fashion photographs he was also recognised for his portraiture. "His black-and-white portraits were remarkable for capturing the essential humanity and vulnerability lurking in such larger-than-life figures including Marilyn Monroe, Bob Dylan and President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
In the 1960's Avedon delved into more explicitly political photography, taking portraits of the civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Julian Bond.
From 1966 to 1990 Avedon worked as a photographer for Vouge, Harper's Bazaar's chief rival among Fashion Magazines. He carried on pushing the boundaries of fashion photography with provocative and sometimes controversial photographs, where nudity, violence and death were featured.
Avedon photographed his terminally ill father over several months, and in 1974 the collection was featured at the Museum of Modern Art. In 1977 a large collection of his photographs, 'Richard Avedon: Photographs 1947-1977' were exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, before it began an international tour of the most famous museums in the world.
Richard Avedon passed away on October 1st, 2004, while on assignment for his unfinished, final project The New Yorker, while in San Antonio Texas. He was 81 years old.
Watching Darkness and Light
This film about Richard Avedon was very interesting and showed a lot about his carrier and experiences. Most of the footage was a about his carrier as a fashion photographer, but it also covered his various portraiture work.
Portfolio: Jacob Israel Avedon
One of Avedon's most recognised, and perhaps controversial body of work was one based on his father, who was diagnosed with cancer, and Avedon took portraits of him in his last few moments.
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| Jacob Israel Avedon, Sarasota, Florida, October 6, 1969 |
"They had nothing to do with the art of photography, they were my way of trying to reach him, to let him know what I was.."
"..but when I saw them, I was upset by them because I thought it was an invasion of privacy and that, of course, is the very essence of being photographer isn't it? It's an invasive, in many ways art form."
http://www.biography.com/people/richard-avedon-9193034
I do wonder what Avedon thought about his son's response. Personally I do not feel that these photographs are an invasion of privacy mostly due to the fact the Richard Avedon took them. I feel it would've been a much different story if Avedon took this photographs of a stranger, but as it's his father, I do not feel that it is an invasion of privacy mostly due to the fact the Avedon wanted to take them. Perhaps, if he wasn't such a recognised and well-known photographer, the images wouldn't have made it to national galleries etc. but if Avedon didn't want people to see them, he wouldn't have allowed it.
Again, there was a lot of controversy surrounding this series, including the invasion of the lives of the people of the American West, and the over all outlook people might have on the these people after seeing the photographs.
These photographs are key, or a perfect representation of the overall work that Avedon produced, these photographs made Avedon more than a fashion photographer. The white backgrounds made these photographs, and it has become what Avedon is well known for. This is what we need to produce, or recreate in one of our photographs for our 24/7 Project.
Useful Links.
http://www.richardavedon.com/
"It's just strange to me that anyone would ever think that a work of art shouldn't be disturbing and shouldn't be invasive, that's the properties... it's to disturb, it's to make you think, it's to make you feel."
'The American West' was a series taken while Avedon was away in Western America recuperating after suffering with an inflammation on the heart, where he was told if he suffered another, the effects would be fatal. Avedon found his next big project which he spent five years working on, photographing the people of the American West.
I am really fond of this quote from the 'Darkness and Light' film which Avedon said with regards to the photographs of his father. I do think one of the main characteristics of photography is to cause the viewer to think about what they are looking at, they have to appreciate it.
The American West Series
Again, there was a lot of controversy surrounding this series, including the invasion of the lives of the people of the American West, and the over all outlook people might have on the these people after seeing the photographs.
These photographs are key, or a perfect representation of the overall work that Avedon produced, these photographs made Avedon more than a fashion photographer. The white backgrounds made these photographs, and it has become what Avedon is well known for. This is what we need to produce, or recreate in one of our photographs for our 24/7 Project.
Useful Links.
http://www.richardavedon.com/
http://www.vogue.co.uk/spy/biographies/richard-avedon-biography
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