1923-2004

Richard Avedon quit high school and began taking photographs while in the Merchant Marines.  A year after his return to New York City, he was hired as a fashion photographer.  At the age of 23, he established his own studio and went on to contribute to high-profile publications from Vogue to The New Yorker. Avedon was known for photographing his subjects at close range before a white background; antecedents are seen in this early work, where the tension between the self-image the sitter is trying to project and Avedon’s response to that image provides emotional content.