Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon, 2004
Born	May 15, 1923(1923-05-15)
Died	October 1, 2004 (aged 81)
Occupation	Photographer

Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American photographer. Avedon was able to take his early success in fashion photography and expand it into the realm of fine art. is the 135th day of the year (136th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about work. ... is the 135th day of the year (136th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A photographer at the Calgary Folk Music Festival Paparazzi at the Tribeca Film Festival A photographer is a person who takes a photograph using a camera. ... Fine art refers to arts that are concerned with beauty or which appealed to taste (SOED 1991). ...

Photography career

Cover of Richard Avedon's In the American West photo book.

Avedon was born in New York City to a Jewish-Russian family. After briefly attending Columbia University, he started as a photographer for the Merchant Marines in 1942, taking identification pictures of the crewmen with his Rolleiflex camera given to him by his father as a going-away present. In 1944, he began working as an advertising photographer for a department store, but was quickly discovered by Alexey Brodovitch, the art director for the fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar. In 1946, Avedon had set up his own studio and began providing images for magazines including Vogue and Life. He soon became the chief photographer for Harper's Bazaar. Avedon did not conform to the standard technique of taking fashion photographs, where models stood emotionless and seemingly indifferent to the camera. Instead, Avedon showed models full of emotion, smiling, laughing, and, many times, in action. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... ... Alma Mater Columbia University is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. ... US Merchant Marines, WWII, North Atlantic The United States Merchant Marine is a fleet of ships that is used to transport both imports and exports during peace time and serves as an auxiliary to the United States Navy during times of war, delivering both troops and supplies. ... Rolleiflex medium format camera Rollei is a German manufacturer of optical goods, and maker of the well-known Rolleiflex and Rolleicord series of cameras. ... Alexey Brodovich/Brodovitch (1898-1971) was a Russian emigrant photographer and designer who worked in Paris, then America, at the beginning of the twentieth century. ... For the 1960s musical group, see Harpers Bizarre. ... For other meanings, see vogue. ... This article is about life in general. ...

In 1966, Avedon left Harper's Bazaar to work as a staff photographer for Vogue magazine. In addition to his continuing fashion work, Avedon began to branch out and photographed patients of mental hospitals, the Civil Rights Movement in 1963, protesters of the Vietnam War, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Historically, the civil rights movement was a concentrated period of time around the world of approximately one generation (1960-1980) wherein there was much worldwide civil unrest and popular rebellion. ... View in 1986 from the west side of graffiti art on the walls infamous death strip Walls poster in memory of the fall. ...

Avedon's album cover portrait of the Electric Light Orchestra from 1973.

During this period Avedon also created two famous sets of portraits of The Beatles. The first, taken in mid to late 1967, became one of the first major rock poster series, and consisted of five striking psychedelic portraits of the group — four heavily solarised individual colour portraits (solarisation of prints by his assistant, Gideon Lewin, retouching by Bob Bishop) 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 White Album in 1968. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... ELO redirects here. ... The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ... Bob Bishop was chief scout for Manchester United in Northern Ireland in the 1960s. ... Carl Zeiss T* Planar 50mm F/1. ... The self-titled double album The Beatles, released by the Beatles in 1968 at the height of their popularity, is often hailed as one of the major accomplishments in popular music. ...

Avedon was always interested in how portraiture captures the personality and soul of its subject. As his reputation as a photographer became widely known, he brought in many famous faces to his studio and photographed them with a large-format 8x10 view camera. His portraits are easily distinguished by their minimalist style, where the person is looking squarely in the camera, posed in front of a sheer white background. Among the many rock bands photographed by Avedon, in 1973 he shot Electric Light Orchestra with all the members exposing their bellybuttons for recording, On the Third Day. Basic View Camera Terminology The view camera is a type of camera with a very long history (some modern examples are often mistaken for antiques), but they are still used today by professional and amateur photographers who want full control of their images. ... ELO redirects here. ... On The Third Day is an LP by Electric Light Orchestra. ...

He is also distinguished by his large prints, sometimes measuring over three feet in height. His large-format portrait work of drifters, miners, cowboys and others from the western United States became a best-selling book and traveling exhibit entitled In the American West, and is regarded as an important hallmark in 20th Century portrait photography, and by some as Avedon's magnum opus. Commissioned by the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, it was a six-year project Avedon embarked on in 1979, that produced 125 portraits of people in the American west who caught Avedon's eye. Magnum opus (sometimes Opus magnum, plural magna opera), from the Latin meaning great work,[1] refers to the best, most popular, or most renowned achievement of an author, artist, or composer, and most commonly one who has contributed a very large amount of material. ... The Amon Carter Museum is located in Fort Worth, Texas. ...

Avedon was drawn to working people such as miners and oil field workers in their soiled work clothes, unemployed drifters, and teenagers growing up in the West circa 1979-84. When first published and exhibited, In the American West was criticized for showing what some considered to be a disparaging view of America. Avedon was also lauded for treating his subjects with the attention and dignity usually reserved for the politically powerful and celebrities. Laura Wilson served as Avedon's assistant during the creation of In the American West and in 2003 published a photo book documenting the experiences, Avedon at Work, In the American West. Laura Wilson, known as Laura Cunningham (August 28, 1945 in Fort Worth, Texas – December 2, 2005 in Sacramento, California) is an American photographer best known for her work documenting the creation of Richard Avedons In the American West portfolio and as the mother of actors Luke, Andrew and Owen...

Avedon became the first staff photographer for The New Yorker in 1992. He has won many awards for his photography, including the International Center of Photography Master of Photography Award in 1993, the Prix Nadar in 1994 for his photobook Evidence, and the Royal Photographic Society 150th Anniversary Medal in 2003. For other uses, see New Yorker. ... The Prix Nadar is a prize awarded annually for a book of photographs edited in France. ...

Marriages and family

In 1944, Avedon married Dorcas Nowell, who later became a model and was known professionally as Doe Avedon. Nowell and Avedon divorced after five years of marriage. In 1951, he married Evelyn Franklin; their marriage produced one son, John. Avedon and Franklin also later divorced.

Martial arts movie star Loren Avedon is the nephew of Richard Avedon. Martial arts film is a film genre that originated in the Pacific Rim. ... Loren Avedon, Born 1964 in Los Angeles, USA, is an American martial arts movie star. ...

Funny Face

Hollywood presented a fictional account of his early career in the 1957 musical Funny Face, starring Fred Astaire as the fashion photographer "Dick Avery." Avedon supplied some of the still photographs used in the production, including its most famous single image: an intentionally overexposed close-up of Audrey Hepburn's face in which only her famous features - her eyes, her eyebrows, and her mouth - are visible. ... Funny Face (TV series). ... Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987), born Frederick Austerlitz in Omaha, Nebraska,[1] was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. ... Audrey Hepburn (May 4, 1929) – January 20, 1993) was an Academy Award, Tony Award, Grammy Award, Emmy Award-winning film and stage actress, fashion icon, and humanitarian. ...

Hepburn was Avedon's muse in the 1950s and 60s, going as far to say "I am, and forever will be, devastated by the gift of Audrey Hepburn before my camera. I cannot lift her to greater heights. She is already there. I can only record. I cannot interpret her. There is no going further than who she is. She has achieved in herself her ultimate portrait."^[1]

Death

On October 1, 2004, he suffered a brain hemorrhage in San Antonio, Texas while shooting an assignment for The New Yorker. At the time of his death, Avedon was working on a new project titled On Democracy to focus on the run-up to the 2004 U.S. presidential election. is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A stroke or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) occurs when the blood supply to a part of the brain is suddenly interrupted by occlusion (an ischemic stroke- approximately 90% of strokes), by hemorrhage (a hemorrhagic stroke - less than 10% of strokes) or other causes. ... San Antonio redirects here. ... For other uses, see New Yorker. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ...

Famous photographs

• Dovima with Elephants,1955
• Marilyn Monroe, actress, 1957
• Dwight David Eisenhower, President of the United States, 1964
• The Beatles, 1967
• Sly Stone (cover of Fresh Album), 1973
• Ronald Fischer, beekeeper, 1981
• Nastassja Kinski and the Serpent, 1981
• Andy Warhol and Members of the Factory, New York 1969
• Homage to Monkacsi, Carmen, coat by Cardin, Paris 1957

Dovima (1927–May 3, 1990) was one of the top fashion models of the 1950s. ... Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson;[1] June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962), was a Golden Globe award winning[2] American actress, singer, model, Hollywood icon,[3] cultural icon, fashion icon,[4] pop icon and sex symbol. ... Dwight David Eisenhower, born David Dwight Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969), nicknamed Ike, was a five-star General in the United States Army and U.S. politician, who served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States (1953–1961). ... The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ... Sly Stone (born Sylvester Stewart, 15 March 1943, in Denton, Texas) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most famous for his role as frontman for Sly & the Family Stone, a band which played a critical role in the development of soul, funk and psychedelia in the 1960s and... Nastassja Kinski (born Nastassja Aglaia Nakszynski, January 24, 1961) is a prolific German actress, having appeared in more than 60 movies. ...

Books by Richard Avedon

• Observations, 1959. A collaborative book with Truman Capote containing portraits of many famous people of the twentieth century, including Pablo Picasso, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Mae West.
• Nothing Personal, 1964. A collaborative book with James Baldwin.
• Alice in Wonderland, 1973, co-authored with Doon Arbus.
• Portraits, 1976
• Portraits 1947-1977, 1978
• In the American West, 1985
• An Autobiography, 1993. Contains 50 years of images arranged to tell Avedon's life story. Photos include celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Andy Warhol, and Avedon's parents.
• Evidence, 1994. More than 600 images encompassing Avedon's fashion photographs, portraiture, journalistic shots, sketches, snapshots, and contact sheets. However, despite containing many images, the book focuses more on the essays and text about Avedon instead of being fully based on visuals.
• The Sixties, 1999, co-authored with Doon Arbus. Contains images of many famous figures such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Twiggy, and rock bands like Aerosmith in the nude.
• Made in France, 2001. A retrospective of Avedon's fashion portraiture from the 1950s. The book is expensive due to the images being printed on tritone plates.
• Richard Avedon Portraits' 2002. 50 black and white images of celebrities and subjects from his In The American West project. Its release coincided with an exhibition of the work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• Woman in the Mirror. 2005, with essay by Anne Hollander.

Truman Capote (pronounced ; 30 September 1924 – 25 August 1984) was an American writer whose stories, novels, plays, and non-fiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffanys (1958) and In Cold Blood (1965), which he labeled a non-fiction novel. ... Picasso redirects here. ... J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, served as the first director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, beginning in 1943. ... MAE-West is a major Internet peering point located in San Jose, California. ... James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – November 30, 1987) was an American novelist, writer, playwright, poet, essayist, and civil rights activist. ... Doon Arbus, (b. ... Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson;[1] June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962), was a Golden Globe award winning[2] American actress, singer, model, Hollywood icon,[3] cultural icon, fashion icon,[4] pop icon and sex symbol. ... Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922 - June 22, 1969) was an Academy Award-nominated American film actress and singer, best known for her role as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939). ... Andrew Warhola (August 6, 1928 — February 22, 1987), better known as Andy Warhol, was an American artist who was a central figure in the movement known as Pop art. ... Janis Lyn Joplin (19 January 1943 – 4 October 1970) was an American singer, songwriter, and music arranger, from Port Arthur, Texas. ... Jimi Hendrix (November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitar virtuoso, singer and songwriter. ... This article is about the English supermodel. ... This article is about the band Aerosmith. ... Left: halftone spots. ... Metropolitan Museum of Art New York Elevation The Metropolitan Museum of Art, often referred to simply as the Met, is one of the worlds largest and most important art museums. ...

Richard Avedon in Popular culture

• In The Simpsons Episode The Sweetest Apu (Episode 19 of Season 13) Homer states that he bought an issue of The New Yorker (in which Apu's cartoon appeared) only for Richard Avedon's pictures of Lenny, two of which we see afterwards.
• The film Capote features Avedon's collaboration with Truman Capote and his photographs of In Cold Blood murderers Perry Smith and Richard Hickock.
• An Avedon-style photo of actor Owen Wilson, in imitation of Avedon's American West photo of a man holding a disemboweled snake, was used in a prop for the film The Royal Tenenbaums; Wilson's mother Laura Wilson was a close assistant to Avedon.
• Avedon is mentioned in the song Gardenia by Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks.

Simpsons redirects here. ... “The Sweetest Apu” is the nineteenth episode of The Simpsons’ thirteenth season. ... For other uses, see New Yorker. ... Apu redirects here. ... Lenford Lenny Leonard, MPhys is a fictional character in The Simpsons, voiced by Harry Shearer. ... Capote is an Academy Award-winning 2005 biographical film about Truman Capote (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal) on a writing assignment for The New Yorker. ... Truman Capote (pronounced ; 30 September 1924 – 25 August 1984) was an American writer whose stories, novels, plays, and non-fiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffanys (1958) and In Cold Blood (1965), which he labeled a non-fiction novel. ... In Cold Blood is a 1965 book by American author Truman Capote. ... Perry Smith He was son of rodeo performers, Perry was half Indian, short and dark. ... Kansas State Penitentiary mug shot of Richard Hickock in March 1958, the year before the murders. ... Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and writer. ... The Royal Tenenbaums is the 2001 dramatic comedy about three genius siblings who experience great success in youth, and even greater disappointment and failure after their eccentric father leaves them in their adolescent years. ... Laura Wilson, known as Laura Cunningham (August 28, 1945 in Fort Worth, Texas – December 2, 2005 in Sacramento, California) is an American photographer best known for her work documenting the creation of Richard Avedons In the American West portfolio and as the mother of actors Luke, Andrew and Owen... Often considered a backing band for Stephen Malkmuss solo experimentations, The Jicks released a 2003 album entitled Pig Lib with Malkmus as the lead vocalist. ...

References

External links

• Richard Avedon at Encyclopædia Britannica
• Richard Avedon at Find A Grave
• Official site
• Fraenkel Gallery represents the Richard Avedon Foundation
• American Photo: Richard Avedon: A Recollection by Owen Edwards
• Kodak: Avedon's The Sixties
• Richard Avedon Informational site with a biography, obituary, photos and a look inside Richard Avedon's apartment.
• Richard Avedon. Photography. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved on 2007-11-11.