Eyes of Fashion: Richard Avedon

For the past couple of weeks, I've been increasingly interested in photography, both in theory and practice. Following your feedback to this post, I've decided to start a new series, Eyes of Fashion, featuring profiles of the best of the best in fashion photography, who created many of the most memorable and iconic images in the whole industry. Whether you're a fashionista, a vinatge lover, a shutterbug or simply like to admire beautiful photos, I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do!


For the first installment, I've had to choose Richard Avedon's work. Avedon was born in 1923 in New York; his first photography job involved taking crewmen identification pictures for the American merchant fleet. in 1944, he began working for a department store, where he was discovered by Harper's Bazaar art director. He soon started working for this fashion magazine, and after setting up his own studio in 1946, also started taking pictures for Life and Vogue. His approach was very innovative at the time: he photographed his models in action, smiling, laughing, jumping. From then on, his career in fashion photography continually flourished, and Avedon also branched out to shoot major political events, music bands as well as ordinary working people. He was a master of portrait photography, seeking to capture his models' personality by evoking different emotions. He died of a brain hemorrhage in 2004 at the age of 81.

Famous examples of his work:

Dovima with elephants, evening dress by Dior, Cirque d'Hiver, 1955

Homage to Munkacsi. Carmen, coat by Cardin, Place François-Premier, Paris, August 1957

Marylin Monroe, actress, 1957

Audrey Hepburn, New York, January 1967

Twiggy, hair by Ara Gallant, Paris Studio, January 1968

Nastassja Kinski and the serpent, Los Angeles, California, June 1981

Kate Moss, January 1997

Which one is your personal favorite? I cannot decide between Homage to Munkacsi and Audrey Hepburn. Let me know if you have any suggestions for the series, my lovelies. Stay put for another installment next month!