Richard Avedon: 1923-2004.

"As long as people remain curious about life in the twentieth century,
they will turn to Avedon's photographs to see how it looked, and what it
meant".
--Adam Gopnik. The New Yorker, October 11, 2004, p65.

Following a 60-year career, Richard Avedon died in San Antonio. Texas at the age of 81 on October 1st. Avedon, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, was born in New York City in 1923. He grew up working in his family's dress shop. At age 12, he joined the YMHA's camera club, and by the age of 19 he was photographing soldiers for their ID cards at the Merchant Marines. In 1945, while working in a department store, he was discovered by Harper's Bazaar. In 1965 he joined Vogue where he worked until 1990. Since 1992 he was the first and only staff photographer of The New Yorker.

Avedon's work in fashion and portraiture set a new standard in both fields of photography. Influenced by Hungarian photographer Martin Munkasci, Avedon used the model's actions to suggest a plot and create a setting--a novelty in the history of portraiture. Avedon captured some of the most famous faces of our time--Samuel Beckett, Maryilyn Monroe, Truman Capote, Andy Warhol, and Charlie Chaplain--to list a few. His portraits allow the viewer to face the essence of a subject through a direct, child-like stare. Avedon, often focusing on the less glorified members of humanity, did a series entitled The American West, likewise, he photographed the insane and dying, pointing a magnifying lens at the everyday man and his experiences. In 1957 director Stanley Doman made Funny Face, starring Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn. Avedon, hired as a consultant, inspired the spirit of Doman's main characters for the film. Regardless of what is said of the content and intention of his photographs, Avedon's distinction will remain a building block to modern styles.

Avedon received many awards and honors in his lifetime. In 1958 he was named one of the ten greatest photographers in the world by Popular Photography, and in 1994 American Photo Magazine proclaimed him number one on their list of "Photography's Top 100". Furthermore, he received an honorary doctorate from the Royal College of Art in London in 1989.

Up until his death, Avedon was working on a series entitled On Democracy, a survey of America prior to the 2004 election. Produced for The New Yorker (which intends to publish it in its nearly completed form), the work is a portrait collection of delegates, politicians and voters.