“And if a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it’s as though I’ve neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up. I know that the accident of my being a photographer has made my life possible.” – Richard Avedon (1970)

American photographer Richard Avedon defined the image of beauty, fashion and culture for our contemporary society. Known for his fashion photography and photographic portraiture of a wide range of subjects, from coal miners to models to celebrities, Avedon used the lens of his camera to capture the essence of any subject, and he did it with elegance.

Avedon’s photography career began in 1942 when he became a photographer for the Merchant Marines, in which he took identification photos of the crewman. After two years, Avedon left his first job and was discovered by Alexey Brodovitch, the art director of Harper’s Bazaar, and went on to study under him for a number of years. Brodovitch’s mentorship allowed Avedon to enter the world of fashion photography, where he was given the opportunity to provide photos for Harper’s Bazaar, a publication for which he would later become the chief photographer for twenty years. At the same time, Avedon opened up his own studio and contributed photographs to other established magazines such asLife and Vogue. As for fashion advertisements, Avedon worked on assignments for Versace, Calvin Klein, Revlon, Dior and more. Avedon encouraged models to show their personality in front of the camera, thus migrating away from standard fashion photography where models appeared motionless and expressionless.

Although he achieved ultimate success in the world of fashion photography, Avedon is most known for his photographic portraiture of celebrities. Avedon’s portraits offer an intimate and vulnerable perspective of the most famous people in the world. These iconic portraits are mainly black and white frontal views and notably minimal. His subjects were photographed in front of plain backdrops and were without any props or extraneous details that could be a distraction. To achieve intimacy with his subjects, Avedon often asked psychologically delving questions and attempted to make his subjects as comfortable as possible. The results are unapologetically authentic, intense captures of his subjects’ essence. The repertoire of famous people that Avedon photographed is nearly incalculable. To name a few: Marilyn Monroe, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Andy Warhol, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ezra Pound, Toni Morrison, Hilary Rodham Clinton, Brooke Shields and more.

Avedon’s passion for photography didn’t stop at the world of fashion and stars. Avedon branched away from what he was accustomed to and showed his support of the Civil Rights Movement by photographing Civil Rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Avedon was also creatively drawn to the working class, as seen through his photograph series “In The American West.” In this series, Avedon presented 120 photographs of people, some whom were employed as miners, or worked the slaughterhouses and drilling fields. Avedon photographed ordinary people, who were coping with daily troubles and working hard to make a living. His approach to photographing these ordinary citizens was no different than his approach to photographing celebrities- the subjects stare into the camera in front of a plain white background, eliminating any connection to landscape or details. The result is straightforward, unglamorous yet extremely authentic portrayals of Americans from all walks of life.

Avedon was successful in portraying all his portrait subjects as truthfully as possible, and exposing parts of a person’s personality that was not as easily captured by other photographers. Even in fashion photography, Avedon was able to capture a certain spirit in an endlessly transforming world, and bringing those photos to a high form of art. Avedon’s impact on photography will be forever apparent.