Lauren St. John 
Leanne Kawahigashi 
Amy Beth Castleberry 
Brandy Rains 
Evan Marks 
Nil Santana 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
Amy Beth Castleberry
4:18 pm, 05.21.12
I love the way Avedon captures his clients in a moment they are at in life. Some of them may be posed, but it they way he takes them makes them seem very personable and takes their personality and captures in a work of art. My favorites are the ones of the New York Life on his website. Especially the ones of the children.
Lauren St. John
11:11 am, 05.22.12
I agree with Amy. I have admired Avedon’s work for a while now and its mainly because of his ability to capture personality and feeling. His portraits make me believe they are an honest representation of who that person is. I especially love the ones with white backdrops. It’s so unique compared with how we normally see people presented and in some way that draws me in to see the beauty and humanity more intensely.
Leanne Kawahigashi
3:19 pm, 05.27.12
I totally agree with both the comments above! His portraits are done with such class and beauty. I love the shots with the elephants. It’s so out of the ordinary, but makes the picture extremely interesting. He creates this natural look to the portraits. Love his style and outside of the box thinking.