The moment an emotion or fact is transformed into a photograph it is no longer a fact but an opinion. You cannot make a photograph of a person without that person’s presence, and that very presence implies truth. I could say it is the nature of art to make such assumptions but there has never been an art like photography before. It is for me the only way to breathe and to live. I feel I have no right to say, “This is the way it is” and in another way, I can’t help myself. “It is complicated and unresolved in my mind because I believe in moral responsibility of all kinds. 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. My portraits are much more about me than they are about the people I photograph. That is interesting.”Īvedon elaborates on capturing the “truth” behind a person: It then becomes a portrait of someone who doesn’t want something to show. The fact that there are qualities a subject doesn’t want me to observe is an interesting fact (interesting enough for a portrait). “I am not necessarily interested in the secret of a person. In a sense- I think Avedon was striving to capture what he thought was the “true” authenticity of his subjects.Īvedon starts off by sharing that most people have things about themselves that they don’t want to show:
His vision of an artist was more important than how his subjects saw themselves. He openly acknowledged that as a photographer- it was he who was in control. However Avedon took the opposite approach. One of the touchy subjects when photographing a subject is to capture their “authentic” self- and not impose so much of yourself onto them. Your photos are more about yourself (than your subject) Petra Alvarado, Factory Worker, on her Birthday, El Paso, Texas, April 22, 1982 I hope you enjoy these lessons as much as I did. I have recently binged on everything I could about Avedon- and have gained a ton of inspiration from his photography, his love of life, and his personal philosophies. Even for my personal street photography, I might consider it “street portraiture.” I was particularly drawn to Richard Avedon because I have a fascination with portraiture and the human face. However, he did shoot street photography in his life, in Italy, New York, Santa Monica, and more.
Richard Avedon isn’t a street photographer- nor did he consider himself one.
Ronald Fischer, beekeeper, Davis, California, May 9, 1981.
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