Richard avedon biography wikipedia

As a Photographer's Mate Second Class, his main duty was taking identification portraits of sailors. Avedon served in the Merchant Marine for two years, from to Avedon and Brodovitch formed a close bond, and within one year Avedon was hired as a staff photographer for the magazine. After several years photographing daily life in New York City, Avedon was assigned to cover the spring and fall fashion collections in Paris.

While legendary editor Carmel Snow covered the runway shows, Avedon's task was to stage photographs of models wearing the new fashions out in the city itself. Throughout the late s and early s, he created elegant black-and-white photographs showcasing the latest fashions in real-life settings such as Paris's picturesque cafes, cabarets and streetcars.

Already established as one of the most talented young fashion photographers in the business, in , Avedon made fashion and photography history when he staged a photoshoot at a circus. She is posed between two elephants, her back serenely arched as she holds on to the trunk of one elephant while reaching out fondly toward the other. The image remains one of the most strikingly original and iconic fashion photographs of all time.

Avedon served as a staff photographer for Harper's Bazaar for 20 years, from to In addition to his fashion photography, he was also well known for his portraiture. His black-and-white portraits were remarkable for capturing the essential humanity and vulnerability lurking in such larger-than-life figures as President Dwight D. During the s, Avedon also expanded into more explicitly political photography.

He did portraits of civil rights leaders such as Dr. More than any other photographer he successfully worked to erase the distinction between photography and fine art, with early solo museum shows at The Smithsonian and the Minneapolis Institute of Fine Art In , he became the first living photographer to be awarded a solo show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

He had a second retrospective show there in Throughout his life, Avedon maintained a unique style of portraiture that combined the rigor of the studio with the spontaneity of projects on location. Working sometimes for magazines, and often for his own account, he photographed portraits of people from every field and all walks of life.

Richard avedon biography wikipedia

In the February 9, , issue of Newsweek , Avedon said that "Brooke is a lightning rod. She focuses the inarticulate rage people feel about the decline in contemporary morality and destruction of innocence in the world. But when he works, he's so acutely creative, so sensitive. And he doesn't like it if anyone else is around or speaking.

There is a mutual vulnerability, and a moment of fusion when he clicks the shutter. You either get it or you don't". In addition to his continuing fashion work, by the s Avedon was making studio portraits of civil rights workers, politicians, and cultural dissidents of various stripes in an America fissured by discord and violence. A personal book called Nothing Personal with a text by his high school classmate James Baldwin , appeared in During this period, Avedon also created two well known sets of portraits of The Beatles.

The first, taken in mid to late , consisted of five psychedelic portraits of the group — four heavily solarized individual color portraits, and a black-and-white group portrait taken with a Rolleiflex camera and a normal Planar lens. The next year, he photographed the much more restrained portraits that were included with The Beatles LP in Among the many other rock bands photographed by Avedon, in , he shot Electric Light Orchestra with all the members exposing their bellybuttons for recording On the Third Day.

Avedon was always interested in how portraiture captures the personality and soul of its subject. Eisenhower , Andy Warhol , and the Chicago Seven. By eliminating the use of soft lights and props, Avedon was able to focus on the inner worlds of his subjects evoking emotions and reactions. Through these means he would produce images revealing aspects of his subject's character and personality that were not typically captured by others.

Avedon's mural groupings featured emblematic figures: Andy Warhol with the players and stars of The Factory ; The Chicago Seven , political radicals charged with conspiracy to incite riot at the Democratic National Convention ; the Beat poet Allen Ginsberg and his extended family; and the Mission Council, a group of military and government officials who governed the United States' participation in the Vietnam War.

In , Avedon produced a playfully inventive series of advertisements for fashion label Christian Dior , based on the idea of film stills. Other pictures for the magazine, ranging from the first publication, in , of previously unpublished photos of Marilyn Monroe to a resonant rendering of Christopher Reeve in his wheelchair and nude photographs of Charlize Theron in , were topics of wide discussion.

Serious heart inflammations hindered Avedon's health in In , he was commissioned by Mitchell A. Wilder envisioned the project to portray Avedon's take on the American West. It became a turning point in Avedon's career when he focused on everyday working class subjects such as miners soiled in their work clothes, housewives, farmers and drifters on larger-than-life prints, instead of the more traditional options of focusing upon public figures or the openness and grandeur of the West.

In , Avedon revisited his subjects who would later speak about In the American West aftermath and its direct effects. Billy Mudd, a trucker, spent long periods of time on his own away from his family. He was a depressed, disconnected and lonely man before Avedon offered him the chance to be photographed. When he saw his portrait for the first time, Mudd saw that Avedon revealed something about him that allowed him to recognize the need for change in his life.

The portrait transformed Mudd, and led him to quit his job and return to his family. During the production period Avedon encountered problems with size availability for quality printing paper. While he experimented with platinum printing he eventually settled on Portriga Rapid, a double-weight, fiber-based gelatin silver paper manufactured by Agfa-Gevaert.

Each print required meticulous work, with an average of thirty to forty manipulations. Two exhibition sets of In the American West were printed as artist proofs, one set to remain at the Carter after the exhibition there, and the other, property of the artist, to travel to the subsequent six venues. Overall, the printing took nine months, consuming about 68, square feet 6, m 2 of paper.

While In the American West is one of the Avedon's most notable works, it has often been criticized for falsifying the West through voyeuristic themes and for exploiting his subjects. Avedon's book was actually controversial when it was first released. Some people found it unconventional and unexpected for a book about the West, but it ended up becoming an iconic image that challenged traditional perceptions of the region.

Critics question why a photographer from the East who traditionally focuses on models or public figures would go out West to capture the working class members who represent hardship and suffering. They argue that Avedon's intentions are to influence and evoke condescending emotions from the viewer such as pity. His mother, Anna Avedon, came from a family of dress manufacturers and his father, Jacob Avedon, owned a clothing store.

Apart from his interest in fashion and photography, he also developed an affinity for poetry. In , he graduated from high school and enrolled at Columbia University. At Columbia University, he studied philosophy and poetry. After one year, he dropped out to serve in the U. He served there for two years from to year After one year, he was hired as a staff photographer for the magazine.