Richard Avedon
1923 - 2004
New York City
Using a 8x10 Deardorff View Large Format camera, Richard Avedon was famous for his originality in portrait and fashion photography. He not only shot portraits, and fashion, but also confronted the realms of politics, power, suffering, and war.
A few events he covered include:
- The Civil Rights movement in the South
- The Vietnam War
- Mental Institutions
- The Washington Establishment
Richard was known for coming out from behind the camera, after focusing, to develop a rapport with his subject. Occasionally while doing this, he would guide the subject into an uncomfortable area of discussion, evoking reactions from them to produce images revealing aspects of the subject's character and personality that were not typically captured by others.
The subject would be pulled from their environment just as they were, and photographed against a white backdrop, eliminating any sense of landscape. Avedon avoided expressing his personal opinions of the subjects and allowed them to choose their own pose and clothing, and in my opinion, making the photographs more powerful and truthful to the viewer.
His photographs usually involved a straight on angle with the subject, high contrast, and a close crop (often chopping body parts off)
This is one of my favourite panoramic shots he did of the Civil Rights Movement in the South. This shot isn't balanced, and he cut the guys head off, but it works for me. The grungy guys, probably just pulled out of the mine shafts, work well with the grungy composition! I especially like the pure white, and the high contrast in the image.
Richard used lighting on his subjects in a way that worked.
Aside from using the sunlight (like the American West), he used strobes to control light. The strobes are obvious here, as you can see them in the eyes of the subject, and the shadows are noticeably smaller and darker then then would be with natural sunlight.
This is my favourite example of one of his more humorous images, for obvious reasons.
My last favourite.
Here's an example of his originality, and way of pushing the boundaries of portrait/fashion photography.
The high contrast between the white, smooth dress, and the dark, rough elephants really make the image (more importantly her dress) pop. The other thing that catches my eye, is the way her body form is mimicking the elephant's trunk and legs.
You never expect to see a clean, sleek model in a photograph with rough, dirty elephants. That is what makes this photo unique.
