- Avedon, Richard
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born May 15, 1923, New York, N.Y., U.S.died Oct. 1, 2004, San Antonio, TexasU.S. photographer.He began studying photography in the U.S. merchant marine. In 1945 he became a regular contributor to Harper's Bazaar; he later was closely associated with Vogue. Avedon's fashion photographs are characterized by a strong black-and-white contrast that creates an effect of austere sophistication. In his portraits of celebrities and other sitters, he created a sense of drama by often using a stark, white background and eliciting a frontal, confrontational pose. Many collections of his photographs have been published.
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▪ 2005American photographer (b. May 15, 1923, New York, N.Y.—d. Oct. 1, 2004, San Antonio, Texas), gained renown as the revolutionary fashion photographer who placed his models in candid and dramatic yet casual situations instead of the rigid, formal poses that had been the norm and in the process introduced the concept of the supermodel. The character portrayed by Fred Astaire in the film Funny Face (1957)—a fashion photographer who transforms a bookstore assistant (Audrey Hepburn) into a top model—was in fact modeled on Avedon. He later also became celebrated for his stark black-and-white portraits, which he took by having his subjects face straight forward in front of a white background, with no props or distractions. Although Avedon had earlier shown an interest in taking pictures, it was not until he served in the photography division of the U.S. Merchant Marine (1942–44) that he abandoned plans to be a poet. His career in fashion photography began first with work for a department store and progressed to stints at Harper's Bazaar (1945–65) and Vogue (on staff 1966–70 but associated with the magazine until 1990), as well as work for advertising accounts. Avedon also put together a number of documentary projects, often employing his stark portrait style to record the lives of ordinary people as, for example, for the “In the American West” museum exhibition. His work was featured in numerous other exhibitions and retrospectives and in several books. In 1992 Avedon became the first staff photographer for The New Yorker magazine, where his portraits appeared regularly. He died while on assignment for that publication.* * *
▪ American photographerborn May 15, 1923, New York, New York, U.S.died October 1, 2004, San Antonio, Texasone of the leading mid-20th-century photographers, noted for his portraits and fashion photographs.Avedon began to explore photography on his own at age 10 and was immediately drawn to portraiture. His first sitter was the Russian pianist-composer Sergey Rachmaninoff (Rachmaninoff, Sergey), who then lived in the same New York City apartment building as Avedon's grandparents. Avedon studied photography in the U.S. merchant marine (1942–44), where he took identification card pictures, and at the New School for Social Research. He turned professional in 1945 and became a regular contributor to Harper's Bazaar (1946–65) and Vogue (1966–90), in addition to working on many advertising campaigns. In 1992 he became the first staff photographer at The New Yorker.Avedon's fashion photographs are characterized by a strong black-and-white contrast that creates an effect of austere sophistication. In his portraits of celebrities and other sitters, he created a sense of drama by often using a stark, white background and eliciting a frontal, confrontational pose. Many of his photographs are collected in Observations (1959), with a text by Truman Capote (Capote, Truman); Nothing Personal (1976), with a text by James Baldwin (Baldwin, James); Portraits (1976); Avedon: Photographs, 1947–1977 (1978); In the American West, 1979–1984 (1985), An Autobiography (1993); Evidence: 1944–94 (1994); and The Sixties (1999).Avedon also served as visual consultant for the motion picture Funny Face (1957), which was based on his own experiences. The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City mounted a retrospective exhibition of Avedon's photographs in 1994.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
