Avedon's Portraits
Richard Avedon reinvented the genre of photographic portraiture.
We don't look at Avedon's portraits and think "What a great photographer", we stare at the sitters in the portraits and think "What an interesting person."
His talent was to make us engage with the sitter directly, almost unaware of the photographers presence - the fundamental purpose of portraiture.
The images can be of weary, neurotic, melancholy subjects, but they are riveting images that capture a psychological state.
Avedon said:
"I've worked out of a series of no's. No to exquisite light, no to apparent compositions, no to the seduction of poses or narrative. And all these no's force me to the "yes." I have a white background. I have the person I'm interested in and the thing that happens between us."
David Bailey said:
"His photography does not intrude in the image. His subject becomes the centre of the universe."
We don't look at Avedon's portraits and think "What a great photographer", we stare at the sitters in the portraits and think "What an interesting person."
His talent was to make us engage with the sitter directly, almost unaware of the photographers presence - the fundamental purpose of portraiture.
The images can be of weary, neurotic, melancholy subjects, but they are riveting images that capture a psychological state.
Avedon said:
"I've worked out of a series of no's. No to exquisite light, no to apparent compositions, no to the seduction of poses or narrative. And all these no's force me to the "yes." I have a white background. I have the person I'm interested in and the thing that happens between us."
David Bailey said:
"His photography does not intrude in the image. His subject becomes the centre of the universe."
posted by march1722 at 12:15 pm
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