My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.
Interpretation
Avedon conveys that his photography reflects his own identity and vision more than the subjects he captures.
This quote by Richard Avedon highlights the subjective nature of art, particularly photography. Avedon suggests that rather than simply capturing the external appearances of his subjects, his portraits are a reflection of his own thoughts, emotions, and experiences. Consequently, the viewer is invited to consider not only the person in the photograph but also the artistic perspective of the photographer, emphasizing the interplay between the artist and their subject.
In practice
In a photography exhibit, one could present Avedon's quote to discuss the emotional connection photographers have with their subjects.
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.
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 think all art is about control, the encounter between control and uncontrollable.
If your only dance experience is the Nutcracker, it will be a shock; hopefully shocking in a good way.
Just as music is noise that makes sense, a painting is colour that makes sense, so a story is life that makes sense.
I wanted to produce a book that would demonstrate not only the rich diversity of people who answered to Anders's command but also the extraordinary variety of their experiences and emotions: from death to despair, fear and longings and eventually to hope.
You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.
I was glamorous because of magicians like George Folsey, James Wong Howe, Oliver Marsh, Ray June, and all those other great cinematographers. I trusted those men and the other experts who made us beautiful. The rest of it I didn't give a damn about. I didn't fuss about my clothes, my lighting, or anything else, but, believe me, some of them did.
My art will reflect not necessarily conscious politics but the unanalysed politics of my life.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.