Reaction to Avedon Show

Richard Avedon was known for his ability to continually revolutionize and redefine the photographic medium. He began his career in the post World War II era moving away from static, dull images of typical commercial photographic past and instead injecting a vibrancy and elegance to his own work. The exhibition at the International Center of Photography is the most comprehensive body of his photographic work to date displaying images from his time at Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, and The New Yorker. The mix of prints, contact sheets and magazines creates an intimate look at his body of work and how it progressed from 1944 to 2000, as he continued to stay on top of the commercial photography market and pushing conventional ideas of how to display beauty and the art of the magazine.

At the beginning of the exhibition, the text mentions Avedon’s awareness of the difference in displaying photographs on a wall versus in print. He acknowledges how the editing, cropping, and sizing of photographs may have a substantial effect on the way the image is read depending on its context and the way it is displayed. This idea influenced my perception of the show, my ability to see images intended for print in the space of a museum created an elevated sense of understanding, which in reality may have been artificial. His images were created with the intention to sell a look, a lifestyle. Glamour and sex ooze from each picture. Sunny Hartnett in a white evening gown leaning suggestively over a table of gamblers in a soft and smoky light with a confident and almost smug expression; Dovima staring out of a rain speckled window with an intense gaze accented by her signature skinny and slanted eyebrows as she dons a hat by Balenciaga; Penelope Tree on a gray backdrop in a simple black shirt and pant ensemble with a gust of wind slightly blowing her shirt open and her hair back.

As I looked at each photograph and their titles I knew the images were intended to display a designer’s clothing or specific hairstyle but because of the context of a museum and the body of work being curated with that in mind, I more often than not looked at the images as symbols of successful artistic merit. Avedon’s ability to create cinematic lighting, a movement and narrative in a single still frame, and his versatility to produce compositionally simple and stunning images both inside the studio and on the streets drew me in and had me continue to look onward. Previous experience in museums with large prints and controlled lighting made me immediately recognize these images as “fine art”. Although I believe that Avedon has successfully transcended the lines of fashion and art, as this exhibition clearly illustrates, I still found it curious how form so strongly informed the content. His production quality and image making process create a flirtation with the viewer, an invention into a reality many do not experience. In this sense, his work is both victorious in the world of art and fashion, constructing an image that both reflect upon society as it is and projects what me become.