After going through the list of photographers I was stuck between choosing to work conceptually with the photographs of Richard Avedon, Sally Mann, or Robert Mapplethorpe, but ultimately decided to go with Avedon because I appreciate the fearless/truthful nature of a lot of his photographs (could be called grungy in their subject on occasion even) contrasted with their high quality. Achieving crisper photos is something I need to work on personally, so I felt that Avedon was the best choice for me.
Richard Avedon (1923-2004) was (primarily) a fashion and portrait photographer based in New York City. Both of Avedon’s parents worked in the fashion industry, which undoubtedly influenced his career. He began his career through fashion photography, and at the age of 22 branched off into freelance work. A lot of his photographers were taken for the fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar. Avedon was extremely interested in photography’s capacity for evoking the life of his subjects. He worked with Rolleiflex twin lens camera.
“He was fascinated by photography’s capacity for suggesting the personality and evoking the life of his subjects. He registered poses, attitudes, hairstyles, clothing and accessories as vital, revelatory elements of an image.”
-Richard Avedon Foundation
“My photographs don’t go below the surface. I have great faith in surfaces. A good one is full of clues.”
-Richard Avedon
