bio he was born may 15, 1923 in new york city, new york. he died october 1, 2004 in san antonio,...

Richard Avedon

American Portrait and Fashion Photographer

bio

He was born May 15, 1923 in New York City, New York.

He died October 1, 2004 in San Antonio, Texas.

He grew up in New york City.

Personal life

He was born into a Jewish family.

His mother, Anna, owned a dress-manufacturing business which spurred on his love of fashion and art.

He became interested in photography when he turned 12 and joined the Young Men’s Hebrew Association Camera Club.

He used his family’s Kodak Box Brownie to take pictures of his beautiful sister Louise. However, during her teen years she suffered from psychotic episodes and was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Growing up with his sister and the early influences of fashion made him strive to capture tragic beauty in his photography.

Cont…

He attended Columbia University for a year studying philosophy and poetry before dropping out.

He ended up studying photography at the New School for Social Research with Alexey Brodovitch from 1944-1950.

He became the lead photographer for a magazine called Harper’s Bazaar until he started working for Vogue magazine for 20 years.

Photography

Favorite camera/lens brand: Rolleiflex, Deardorff and Sinar

Other products he used: Umbrellas, beauty dishes and Elinchrom strobes

A lot of portrait work was done using a 8x10 view camera with lenses in the 300-360 mm range.

Marilyn Monroe, actress, New YorkRichard Avedon(American, 1923–2004)1957. Gelatin silver print, printed 1989, 7 15/16 x 7 13/16" (20.2 x 19.8 cm)

In the American West

Sandra Bennett, twelve-year-old, Rocky Ford, Colorado, August 23, 1980

Heidi Hamilton and Gordy Bray, rodeo contestants, Douglas, Wyoming, July 28, 1981

This series was to portray Avedon’s take on the American West. Avedon visited and traveled through state fair rodeos, carnivals, coal mines, oil fields, slaughter houses and prisons to find the right subjects to photograph.

Famous Photographs

Andy Warhol, artist, New York, August 20, 1969Richard Avedon, Dovima with elephants, evening dress by Dior, Cirque d’Hiver, Paris, August 1955; © 2009 The Richard Avedon Foundation

More

Marian Anderson, singer, 1955, Gelatin silver print

Elizabeth Taylor, actor, New York, July 1, 1964

He was well known for minimalist, large-scale-character-revealing portraits.

Emulation 1

Emulation 2

Bibliography

"RICHARD AVEDON: “Richard Avedon’s ‘In the American West'”." AMERICAN SUBURB X. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.

"About." Richard Avedon. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.

"What Camera Did Richard Avedon Use?" Who Uses What Camera RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.

"MoMA Learning." MoMA. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.

"Simply Stunning: Richard Avedon's Portraits." Visual Tidbits for the Culturally Curious. N.p., 31 Aug. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.

"Richard Avedon." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 30