Assignment I: Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon was a master in many genres of photography: fashion, photojournalism, documentary… however, his most stunning work lies in his portraiture. Anyone who has ever seen his work will forever remember it. He often photographed famous celebrities, stars and socialites (however he has done a number of portrait documentary work across the united states and beyond, photographing your every day individual). His style of portraiture seems awfully simple: a white background (most of the time), flat natural lighting, and the subject, dead centre, usually in a square frame; he will often introduce props as well. His props are well chosen to the individual: a gun, a snake, a dress, a hat… I find even if the subject is wearing an item of clothing, I can still consider it a prop because it usually seems carefully chosen to suite the character of the model posing.
What’s so striking about his images are their simplicity… and how the subject’s character and life story seems to glow from within the frame. Like Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon does not pose his models, does not direct them. He photographs them unaware, right when they tend to be showing the most of themselves. These photographs are windows into their souls.
