![\"AVEDON](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/55F3AFA9-206B-4EA3-9F2A-0A3E68A5BD47-800x1067.jpeg?resize=800%2C1067\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
![\"Ronald](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Ronald-Fischer-beekeeper-Davis-California-May-9-1981-engraver.jpg?resize=500%2C623\")
Richard Avedon isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a street photographer\u00e2\u20ac\u201d nor did he consider himself one. However, he did shoot street photography in his life, in Italy, New York, Santa Monica, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was particularly drawn to Richard Avedon because I have a fascination with portraiture and the human face. Even for my personal street photography, I might consider it \u00e2\u20ac\u0153street portraiture.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have recently binged on everything I could about Avedon\u00e2\u20ac\u201d and have gained a ton of inspiration from his photography, his love of life, and his personal philosophies. I hope you enjoy these lessons as much as I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Petra](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Petra-Alvarado-Factory-Worker-on-her-Birthday-El-Paso-Texas-April-22-1982.jpg?resize=500%2C617\")
One of the touchy subjects when photographing a subject is to capture their \u00e2\u20ac\u0153authentic\u00e2\u20ac\u009d self\u00e2\u20ac\u201d and not impose so much of yourself onto them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However Avedon took the opposite approach. He openly acknowledged that as a photographer\u00e2\u20ac\u201d it was he who was in control. His vision of an artist was more important than how his subjects saw themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a sense\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I think Avedon was striving to capture what he<\/em> thought was the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153true\u00e2\u20ac\u009d authenticity of his subjects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Avedon starts off by sharing that most people have things about themselves that they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to show:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am not necessarily interested in the secret of a person. The fact that there are qualities a subject doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want me to observe is an interesting fact (interesting enough for a portrait). It then becomes a portrait of someone who doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want something to show. That is interesting.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Avedon elaborates on capturing the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153truth\u00e2\u20ac\u009d behind a person:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There is no truth in photography.<\/strong> There is no truth about anyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s person. My portraits are much more about me than they are about the people I photograph<\/strong>. I used to think that it was a collaboration, that it was something that happened as a result of what the subject wanted to project and what the photographer wanted to photograph. I no longer think it is that at all.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n “It is complicated and unresolved in my mind because I believe in moral responsibility of all kinds. I feel I have no right to say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is the way it is\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and in another way, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help myself. It is for me the only way to breathe and to live. I could say it is the nature of art to make such assumptions but there has never been an art like photography before. You cannot make a photograph of a person without that person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presence, and that very presence implies truth. A portrait is not a likeness. The moment an emotion or fact is transformed into a photograph it is no longer a fact but an opinion. There is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph. All photographs are accurate. None of them is truth.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n He continues by sharing the control he has over the subject (and scene):<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The photographer has complete control, the issue is a moral one and it is complicated<\/strong>. Everyone comes to the camera with a certain expectation and the deception on my part is that I might appear to be indeed part of their expectation. If you are painted or written about, you can say: but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not me, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Bacon, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Soutine; that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not me, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Celine.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In another interview, Avedon continues sharing his thoughts on the conundrum of showing \u00e2\u20ac\u0153truth\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in a portrait:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It is complicated and unresolved in my mind because I believe in moral responsibility of all kinds. I feel I have no right to say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is the way it is\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and in another way, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help myself. It is for me the only way to breathe and to live. I could say it is the nature of art to make such assumptions but there has never been an art like photography before. You cannot make a photograph of a person without that person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presence, and that very presence implies truth.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The part below is pure gold:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A portrait is not a likeness. The moment an emotion or fact is transformed into a photograph it is no longer a fact but an opinion. There is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph. All photographs are accurate. None of them is truth.<\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In another interview, Avedon elaborates on the distinction between \u00e2\u20ac\u0153accuracy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153truth\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d and how subjective it is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “[Photographs are] representations of what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s there. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This jacket is cut this way\u00e2\u20ac\u009d; that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very accurate. This really did happen in front of this camera at this\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 at a given moment. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no more truth\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 the given moment is part of what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m feeling that day, what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re feeling that day, and what I want to accomplish as an artist.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Avedon also shares his thoughts on how cameras can lie, and how photographers say what they want to say (depending on when they hit the shutter):<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Camera lies all the time. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all it does is lie, because when you choose this moment instead of this moment, when you\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 the moment you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made a choice, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re lying about something larger. Lying is an ugly word. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean lying. But any artist picks and chooses what they want to paint or write about or say. Photographers are the same.<\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n I think when we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re shooting on the streets\u00e2\u20ac\u201d we are painting our subjective views of the world with our camera (rather than an \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcobjective\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 view of the world). I think in street photography\u00e2\u20ac\u201d we have less of an ethical duty (than documentary or photojournalists) to show the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153truth.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think ultimately the photos we take (as Avedon said) \u00e2\u20ac\u201d are more of a reflection who we are (than the subjects).<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, I am personally drawn to people who look depressed, lost, and stuck in solitude. Even though I am a generally optimistic person\u00e2\u20ac\u201d my studies in sociology have trained me to be a social critic. I tend to see a lot of negativity in everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However on the flip side, I know a lot of photographers whose photos are very happy. For example, Kurt Kamka<\/a> has photos of people all (or mostly) smiling. He is one of the happy guys I have met, and his positivity and love shows through his photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So know that although photography is a form of communication and a two-way street between you and your subject, you still have the ultimate control as a photographer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Make your photos personal, and realize that the photos you take are more of a self-portrait of yourself (than anything else).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Richard Avedon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s photos have always been controversial. Many of his critics called him cold, calculating, and very unjust towards his subjects. Many of his subjects also don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like the way they end up being portrayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the below excerpt, Avedon shares his thoughts that everyone is always trying to look their best (which isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always accurate). Furthermore, he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take these complaints too seriously:<\/p>\n\n\n\n JEFFREY BROWN: Not everyone is always happy with the results. Avedon took this portrait of the renowned literary critic Harold Bloom.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n RICHARD AVEDON: And he said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I hate that picture. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look like me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Well, for a very smart man to think that a picture is supposed to look like him\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 would you go to Modigliani and say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want it to look like me?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n JEFFREY BROWN: But, see, we think of photography differently, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we? We take pictures of each other all the time, and we want it\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 we expect it to look like us.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n RICHARD AVEDON: How many pictures have you torn up because you hate them? What ends up in your scrapbook? The pictures where you look like a good guy and a good family man, and the children look adorable\u00e2\u20ac\u201c and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re screaming the next minute. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never seen a family album of screaming people<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n JEFFREY BROWN: You do have, though, people say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like this; this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n RICHARD AVEDON: Pretty general response.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n JEFFREY BROWN: It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry you?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n RICHARD AVEDON: No. Worry? I mean, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a picture, for God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sake<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Furthermore, there have been times when Avedon would purposefully manipulate his subjects to get a photo he wanted\u00e2\u20ac\u201d which he felt was more \u00e2\u20ac\u0153authentic\u00e2\u20ac\u009d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There are times when it is necessary to trick the sitter into what you want. but never for the sake of the trick.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n For example when he took this famous photo of the Windsors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I would go every night to the casino in Nice\u00e2\u20ac\u201d and I watched them. I watched the way she was with him, the way they were with people. I wanted to bring out the loss of humanity in them.<\/strong> Not the meanness and there was a lot of meanness and narcissism. So I knew exactly what I had to try to accomplish during the sitting. I photographed them in their hotel suite in New York. And they had their pug dogs, and they had their \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcladies home journal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 faces on\u00e2\u20ac\u201d they were posing, royally. And nothing (if not for a second)\u00e2\u20ac\u201d anything I had observed when they were gambling, presented to me. And I did a kind of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcliving by your wits\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. I knew they loved their dogs. and I told them, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcIf i seem a bit hesitant or disturbed\u00e2\u20ac\u201d its because my taxi ran over a dog.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/strong> and both of their faces dropped, because they loved dogs, a lot more than they loved Jews. The expression on their faces is true\u00e2\u20ac\u201d because you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t evoke an expression that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come out of the life of a person.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In his greatest project (in my opinion) \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In the American West\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201d he photographed a girl named Sandra Bennett (who ended up being on the front cover of the book). She is beautiful with freckles, but pensive\u00e2\u20ac\u201d and looks a bit disconcerted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Years after he took the photo, Avedon and some reporters tracked down his past subjects. Sandra (now an adult) told the reporter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The picture was awful\u00e2\u20ac\u201d it was your worst hair day, clothes day, the worst photo of your life you want to bury. I was mortified. I was a senior in high school, I was homecoming queen, and I had this photo coming to haunt me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Sandra then confronts Avedon face-to-face and says the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What was very difficult for me\u00e2\u20ac\u201d was that you caught me vulnerable here. But also bare-bottom, very exposed – where I tried to cover everything.<\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Avedon then says in response to Sandra how (ultimately) he is the one who had control over the situation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say you weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t there in the picture you have to accept\u00e2\u20ac\u201d you are there, and the control is with the photographer<\/strong>. I have the control in the end, and I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do it alone. You have a lot to say\u00e2\u20ac\u201d which by that I mean the way you look, confront the camera, all the experience whether you are trusting or not. In the end, I can tear the pictures up\u00e2\u20ac\u201d choose the smiling or serious one. Or exaggerate something through the printing. It is lending yourself to artists.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Avedon also had some interesting views when it comes to photography \u00e2\u20ac\u201d being more like fiction (than anything else):<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think the larger issue is that photography is not reportage, it is not journalism\u00e2\u20ac\u201d it is fiction<\/strong>. When I go to the west and do the working class (it is more about the working class than the west)\u00e2\u20ac\u201dit is my view. Like John Wayne is Hollywood\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s view. So it means my idea of the working class is a fiction.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Avedon shares some thoughts on his work being invasive\u00e2\u20ac\u201d and how important it is to make \u00e2\u20ac\u0153disturbing\u00e2\u20ac\u009d photos that emotionally effect the viewer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Lee](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Lee-Friedlander-photographer-New-City-New-York-May-24-2002-edition.jpg?resize=500%2C625\")
![\"Debbie](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Debbie-McClendon-Carney-Thermopolis-Wyoming-July-29.-1981-Edition-104.77-2.jpg\")
Takeaway point<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. On controversy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Carl](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Carl-Hoefert-unemployed-blackjack-dealer-Reno-Nevada-August-30-1983-83_165_LayersGrayG.jpg?resize=500%2C623\")
a) Photographing people looking their best (or not)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
b) On manipulating his subjects<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"duke_duchess_windsor1\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/duke_duchess_windsor1-647x660.jpg?resize=647%2C660\")
c) On capturing people when they feel vulnerable<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Sandra](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Sandra-Bennett-twelve-year-old-Rocky-Ford-Colorado-August-23-1980.jpg?resize=500%2C622\")
d) Photography vs reportage\/journalism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Tom-Stroud-Oil-Field-Worker-Velma-Oklahoma-June-12-1980.jpg?resize=500%2C621\")
e) On photography being invasive<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Juan](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Juan-Patricio-Lobato-Carney-Rocky-Ford-Colorado-August-23-1980.jpg\")
![\"avedon-elephants\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/avedon-elephants-641x800.jpg?resize=641%2C800\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Roberto](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Roberto-Lopez-Oil-Field-Worker-Lyons-Texas-September-28-1980.jpg?resize=500%2C627\")
![\"Billy](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Billy-Mudd-trucker-Alto-Texas-May-7-1981-104.80-AP2BH_LayersGrayG.jpg?resize=500%2C627\")
![\"avedon-eye\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/avedon-eye-649x660.jpg?resize=649%2C660\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Jacob](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/jacob_israel_avedon7.jpg?resize=441%2C450\")
![\"Richard-Avedon-Dance-1\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Richard-Avedon-Dance-1.jpg?resize=640%2C684\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"avedon\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/avedon-647x800.jpg?resize=647%2C800\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"twiggy\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/twiggy.jpg?resize=800%2C568\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n