Richard Avedon
·
Started
as an advertising photographer in 1944 but then began work for Alexey
Brodovitch, the art director of the fashion magazine ‘Harper’s Bazaar’ where his
work appeared in the Junior Bazaar.
·
Made
his own studio in 1946, making images for magazines like Vogue and quickly
became the chief photographer for ‘Harpers’
·
He
didn’t take his fashion shots in a typical fashion. He had his models showing
their emotions where as others would do the opposite.
·
At the
end of the 50’s he switched completely to studio photography only using strobe
lighting
·
In the
60’s he focused more on studio portraits, making pictures of civil right
workers, politicians and people of different cultures.
·
As he
became more well known for his portraiture, he attracted famous people to his
studio like Marilyn Monroe and Andy Warhol and captured them using his large
format 8x10 camera and in a minimalist style.
·
He
would sometimes put his models in uncomfortable positions, by talking about
personal or controversial matters to evoke different expressions which was an
unusual method at the time.
I like
the work of Richard Avedon because every one of his pictures is unique; this is
done by capturing the moment during his shoots while he asks difficult personal
questions that provoke a range of facial expressions. If I had to choose my
favourite style of work by him it would be his indoor studio work where he uses
his strobe lighting that he did after his outdoor portrait work. I say this
because I love the effect that he’s managed to create when he’s been able to control
the light fully which is demonstrated perfectly by the picture of the girl, and
the fact that he’s in the studio. Its
given him more of a creative licence which explains the nice touch of the
diamond. This is my favourite picture because I think its great how he’s
managed to make the side of her face the same tone as her clothing on her neck
which was done by using a powerful flash at right side of her face and probably
a bit of burning during the printing stage.
From looking at these pictures I have learnt to experiment with a
range of lighting because there is clearly a wide range of setups used throughout
his portfolio and also to emphasise the main features of the subject, like the
eyes of the girl and be creative.
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