Born in New York in 1923, Richard Avedon dropped out of high school and joined the Merchant Marine's photographic section. Returning in 1944, he found a job as a photographer in a department store, was 'discovered' and began working for Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Look, and other magazines. Although making his living in advertising, his real passion was portraiture. Avedon's portraits are well lit, minimalist, and free, resulting in images of intimate spontaneity, formal yet informal, with a sense of timeless authority about them. In 1992 he became the first staff photographer for The New Yorker, and in 1994 the Whitney Museum mounted a fifty year retrospective of his work, "Richard Avedon: Evidence 1944-1994." After a full life, rich in accolades and acclaim, Avedon died on October 1, 2004
|
