Chelsey Tatum 
Hannah Henderson 
Shawn Ogden 
Nil Santana 
Sara Beth Almquist 
Ashlee Justice Richard Avedon
Born in New York on may 15, 1923 of russian-jewish immigrant parents. He attended Dewitt Clinton high school in the Bronx, but never completed an academic education. In 1940, at age 17, Avedon dropped out of high school and joined the Merchant Marine’s photographic section, taking personnel identification photos. Later, he went on several missions to photograph shipwrecks. Upon his return in 1944, he found a job as a photographer in a department store. Initially, Avedon made his living primarily through work in advertising. As a staff photographer for Harper’s bazaar and later for Vogue, Avedon became well known for his stylistically innovative fashion work, often set in vivid and surprising locales.
“if a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it’s as though I’ve neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up.” he said in 1970.
Look at his portraits under: Archive
Erika Ito
9:47 am, 10.07.11
I went to his exhibition at SFMOMA when I was in Berkeley 2 years ago. I was never really into black and white photography until then because I thought it was boring, but looking at his works totally flipped my view. I realized that stories and expressions can be well told by just two colors, sometimes a lot better than color pictures. I saw a documentary about this picture of a guy with bees and learned how “moments” is important for photography, too.
Stephanie Kennedy
3:05 am, 10.19.11
There is just something about a black and white photograph that is very striking. I wonder how this image would be received if it was in color. I was looking at his work done for Rolling Stone Bicentennial Presidential Campaign. He allowed each person to pose themselves but he still presented them how he wanted them to be. If someone didn’t know who these people were they could tell they had some significance. That is something I really enjoy in Richard Avedon’s work.
Shawn Ogden
4:43 pm, 11.10.11
These portraits have such a personal quality. You get a glimpse of of the subjects true feeling at the time. Very casual, candid, and insightful. It was surprising to see how many famous writers, artist, and celebrities he has had the chance to meet and photograph in just one lifetime.