Richard Avedon

Can't say i find huge inspiration in Avedon's work, but i definitely respect him as a photographer and for the impact he had on fashion photography. He kind of reminds me the main character from Blowup by Antonioni, heh. Very successful, innovative in the fields he specialized and knows exactly what his weaknesses are.

Recommended watch - Richard Avedon - Darkness and Light (its quite irritating at the beginning, very 'american' way of movie-making, but once Avedon walks in and starts talking it gets much better).


That's probably his best known photography:

Bee Man, 1994


And my two favourite celebrity shots:

Nastasjja Kinsky and the Serpent, 1981 [originally in colour]

Charlie Chaplin - His Last Day in America, 1952

There's some really interesting stories behind both of those images, apparently Kinsky was fascinated with snakes and she was posing for that picture for hours until it finally kissed her, Chaplin (as the title of the picture informs) left the USA day after having this picture taken and never came back, so it became his last message for Americans, heh. There's more detail about it in the movie.

One portrait [in my opinion] he failed to accomplish successfully, steal the essence of the model, is the one of Beckett...

Samuel Beckett, 1979

Avedon also did a series of pictures with his dying of cancer father until his death in 1973, which until now raises controversies.

Jacob Israel Avedon, 1973


Two of his quotes from the movie:

"They love dogs more than they love the Jews" (about the Royal couple).

"Photography is a death of a moment."

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