I can see myself as a very old man in a terrific wheelchair. Only, I won't be photographing the tree outside my window, the way Steichen did. I'll be photographing other old people.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the aging process and the value of capturing real-life moments in art as one grows older.
In this quote, Richard Avedon expresses his vision of aging and artistry. Unlike the photographer Edward Steichen, who captured nature, Avedon envisions himself focusing on the lives of other elderly people, emphasizing the beauty and depth of human experience in old age. His statement highlights the significance of personal connections and storytelling through photography as one navigates through life’s later stages.
In practice
During a photography exhibit, this quote can be used to introduce a series focusing on portraits of elderly individuals.
There's always been a separation between fashion and what I call my 'deeper' work. Fashion is where I make my living. I'm not knocking it. It's a pleasure to make a living that way. It's pleasure and then there's the deeper pleasure of doing my portraits. It's not important what I consider myself to be, but I consider myself to be a portrait photographer.
I am, and forever will be, devastated by the gift of Audrey Hepburn before my camera. I cannot lift her to greater heights. She is already there. I can only record. I cannot interpret her. There is no going further than who she is. She has achieved in herself her ultimate portrait.
I never wanted to be called an artist. I wanted to be called a photographer.
Photography has always reminded me of the second child.. trying to prove itself. The fact that it wasn't really considered an art.. that it was considered a craft.. has trapped almost every serious photographer.
My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.
When you pose for a photograph, it's behind a smile that isn't yours. You are angry and hungry and alive. What I value in you is that intensity. I want to make portraits as intense as people.
I had no proof that I had the stuff to be an artist, though I hungered to be one.
Sometimes I think creativity is magic; it's not a matter of finding an idea, but allowing the idea to find you.
I hate pretty. It’s a very empty word. It gives a bad name to beauty.
When I'm writing, I write all day. Other days, I sit around thinking. Or I run around from one meeting to another, out in the world. It varies, and I like that.
The drama's laws the drama's patrons give._x000D_ _x000D_ For we that live to please must please to live.
There was a German philosopher who is very well known, his name was Immanuel Kant, and he said there are two things that don’t have to mean anything, one is music and the other is laughter. Don’t have to mean anything that is, in order to give us deep pleasure.
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