The way someone who's being photographed presents himself to the camera, and the effect of the photographer's response on that presence, is what the making of a portrait is all about.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the interplay between the subject and the photographer in the creation of a portrait.
Richard Avedon's quote emphasizes the dynamic relationship between a photographer and their subject during a portrait session. It suggests that the way a person chooses to present themselves is influenced not only by their own self-perception but also by the photographer's reactions and approach, culminating in the essence of the portrait being a collaborative effort rather than a one-sided act.
In practice
A photography exhibition discussing the relationship between subjects and photographers.
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.
Acting became more than a profession to me. It became a sort of religion.
It is not enough to place colors, however beautiful, one beside the other; colors must also react on one another. Otherwise, you have cacophony.
Weaknesses have a certain function in a poem... some strategy in order to pave the reader's way to the impact of this or that line.
I'm not sure I would have ever started to draw, let alone write, if my childhood hadn't been so happy. It was a mixture of comfort and adventure. An excellent mixture!
All my works are games, serious game.
Books are seldom useful unless they are also beautiful.
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