Richard Avedon (1923–2004) was born and lived in New York. In the Second World War his job was to take identity photograph for the Merchant Marines. After two years at the age of twenty two he left to become a professional fashion photographer providing photos for Harper’s Bazaar and other magazines. He saw the use of poses, attitudes, hairstyles, clothing and accessories as vital, revelatory elements of an image. He wanted to impose his view of a person and not necessarily what that person saw of themselves. He was influenced by Alexey Brodovitch who was in charge of art direction at Harper’s Bazaar between 1934 and 1958. He left Harper’s Bazaar after controversy caused by his collaboration with models of colour. He then went on to photograph for Vogue which he did for over twenty years. In 1992 he became the first staff photographer for the New Yorker where he continued to develop his portraiture. In his commercial studio he was able to blur the distinction between art and commercial photography. While he was engaged in commercial advertising for the likes of Calvin Klein, Revlon, Versace, this gave him the freedom to produce portrait photography influenced by his cultural, political, and personal passions. Notably he photographed the American Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam war and a series of photographs of his father. So my interest in Richard Avedon is in his fascination for the portrait, mostly in a commercial setting but also from his view from travelling in Italy, New York, Santa Monica, and elsewhere that had been enabled by his commercial success.

For Avedon, he felt he had complete control over the photograph. The photo wasn’t a negotiated image. It was very much a product of his opinion. The portrait was an accurate image, but it was his representation and not necessarily the truth. Photographers, as with other artists and writers, pick and choose what they want to show. So for Alvedon a photograph can be more of a reflection of the photographer than the subject of the photo. In street photography we are looking for the juxtapositions, for the quirky, for the contrasts, and for the shapes and geometry of the scene. We are interested in the subject but only in the context of the place and what we choose to include and exclude. Sometimes Avedon would try and evoke a response to break his subjects out of posing. He would observe his subjects during their every day activities, get to know their likes and dislikes in his search for his opinion. In the case of the Windsors, he would see them at the casino or with their dogs. He would observe their lack of empathy and meanness. He knew that he could use their love of dogs to break them from their posed look. He told them that he had been worried that his taxi had driven over a dog in the street. Their mask was gone, their jaws dropped and Avedon took the photo he wanted. Avendon was not averse to photographing people when they were vulnerable and not looking their best. We face an ethical question here in how far we go in portraying some one who does not really want to be portrayed as the photographer sees fit. Really there seems little point in photographing someone who is destitute who may be craving for a fix just for the sake of it, but it might be justified by a worthy project or for a plea for action. Avendon saw his works purpose to be challenging:

“It is to disturb, it to make you think, to make you feel. If my work didn’t disturb from time to time, it would be a failure in my own eyes. It’s meant to disturb— in a positive way.”

Naturally, Avendon’s photography attracted criticism. It was thought provoking and not nice at times, but he rejected criticism in the main as his intention was to provoke, and for viewers to question react to what they saw. He was a perfectionist and like his mentor, Alexey Brodovitch, he never looked for or cared for compliments. He was never completely satisfied with his photographs. In his most famous elephant photo, Avendon thought the sash should have floated in the opposite direction for a more satisfactory photograph. Avedon felt that his work ‘In the American West’ was his best. He was arround sixty at the time. He felt his age allowed a greater connection with strangers. Naturally the work was controversial being a study of the working class in the West. Critics were divided either loving or hating the collection of photographs. This perhaps is the sign of a great photographer, one that can create discord and debate.

Dovima with elephants, 1955

Napalm victim, Saigon, South Vietnam, 1971

Wallis, Duchess of Windsor; Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (King Edward VIII) 1957

Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, physicist, Princeton, New Jersey, December 11, 1958