‘Name of Artist: Richard Avedon
Dates of Artist’s Life: Born May 15, 1923 and died October 1, 2004. 1. Personal Background: Richard Avedon was born in New York City, New York, on May 15th, 1923. His father owned a clothing store called Avedon’s Fifth Avenue and his mother made dresses. Because he was constantly surrounded with clothes and fashion growing up, he took a liking to the fashion industry and even joined a photography club when he was 12 years old. He attended high school with James Baldwin, and they worked as co-editors on the school magazine. After high school, Avedon enrolled in Colombia University but dropped out after a year to serve in the Merchant Marine. His job there was to take ID pictures of the other sailors. He did this from 1942-1944, and following that went to the New School for Social Research in New York City to study photography. By the late 40s and early 50s he was taking pictures of models and fashion in Paris, and in 1955 he made history by having a photoshoot inside a circus. 2. Style: Avedon’s pictures were all black and white and often were of famous people. His work was famous partially because he had a habit of showing people’s flaws in his photos, and not hiding them. One of his most famous images, the Evening Dress by Piguet, he took a picture of a model getting ready for an event, while she was checking herself in the mirror. This was revolutionary because it had never been done before, and in all previous photoshoots they had they model pose and look perfect. However, after this image was published, it gained a ton of popularity. 3. Philosophy: Main ideas of this photographer were to show the inside life of people you wouldn’t normally see the inside life of. For example, he would famous people doing things that everyone does every day, to show a different view of the world and from a different perspective. Richard Avedon also became involved in politics around 1969, particularly the anti-war movement. He even had a photo shoot with a rebel group, the chicago 7, and supported them in their quest against the war. However, the majority of his photos were fashion and celebrities. 4. Influences: (5 sentences. How has the photographer influenced you in your work?) This photographer influenced me by showing me how sometimes changing the angle of a picture can make it look better, and that there can be more than one good angle to take a photograph. Avedon often did not use angles that he would be expected to use, and instead he used angles that many people would not assume would be considered good and somehow made the pictures look good. He also has a style with the black and white that I think is really cool. It's interesting to see how he implements his style in each of his different photographs. He also shows how lighting can be changed to create a different feel of the image, even if it's a picture of the same thing. 5. Sources: You need to include the 3 images, their title and their source (which may include a link). 1. ://www.artgallery.wa.gov.au/exhibitions/ Richard-Avedon-People/avedon-tv.html 2.https://www.google.com/search?q=richard+avedon +photos&rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS792US792&source= lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjymMXZlN_ eAhWxTt8KHb4BBS0Q_AUIDigB&biw=894&bih= 582#imgrc=JRlw7XBrDDAorM: 3.https://www.sfmoma.org/exhibition/richard-avedon/ 6. Compare and Contrast: Two of Avedon's pieces that I chose for this project are of women posing in front of a white background, and one is in front of a grey wall. 7. Personal Artist Statement: Your images should tell a story. In 5 sentences tell me about your |