AVEDON, RICHARD

born May 15, 1923, New York, N.Y., U.S. one of the leading photographers of the mid-20th century, noted for his portraits and fashion photographs. Avedon began to photograph at the age of 10 and was immediately drawn to portraiture. His first sitter was the Russian pianist-composer Sergey Rachmaninoff, who lived then in the same New York City apartment building as Avedon's grandparents. Avedon studied photography in the U.S. merchant marine and at the New School for Social Research. He turned professional in 1945 and became a regular contributor to the fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar (194665) and later a photographer for Vogue (196690), and (from 1992) for The New Yorker. Avedon's fashion photographs are characterized by strong black-and-white contrast, creating an effect of austere sophistication. In his celebrity portraits, he dramatizes the sitter's personality with such effects as an empty, stark white background and a frontal, confrontational pose. Many of his photographs were collected in Observations (1959), with a text by Truman Capote, Nothing Personal (1974), text by James Baldwin, Portraits (1976), Avedon: Photographs, 19471977 (1978), In the American West (1985), An Autobiography (1993), and Glitter Slave (1995). Avedon also directed a number of special television programs and served as visual consultant for the motion picture Funny Face (1957), which was based on his own life.