“Fashion has something to do with aesthetic social climbing,” Avedon said much later, with Snow and overbearing editor Diana Vreeland in mind. (He called Vreeland “a genius and a megalomaniac… the enemy, except that she was the source of the greatest inspiration.” His early images of the high life may have had little room for criticism, but his satire sharpened over time, culminating in a September 1962 issue parodying tabloid sensationalism. Casting Mike Nichols and Suzy Parker as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor followed. During the making of “Cleopatra,” Avedon was caught by paparazzi reviewing the latest in Parisian fashion. Without missing a beat, he mocked our passion for fame and scandal.
As in Irving Penn VogueAvedon’s range of subjects reflected an insatiable appetite for culture in general: Carson McCullers, Pearl Bailey, Marian Anderson, Bob Dylan, Jasper Johns, Brigitte Bardot, Gloria Vanderbilt, Rudolf Nureyev, Judy Garland, Coleman Hawkins. Whether he saw these figures at home, in dressing rooms, or against a stark white studio backdrop, Avedon brought a sense of curiosity and interest to his portraits. His genuine interest in his subjects gave them the space to express themselves, to withdraw, to become emotional, or simply to meet his attention and intensity with their own.
James Baldwin, New York, January 9, 1963.
Suzy Parker, evening dress by Dior, Paris, August 1956.
In memories of that period Bazaar In the back of the book, Avedon talks about the basic function of fashion photography. “I couldn’t photograph a new jacket from Balenciaga without highlighting its contribution to the collection in some way… The dedication was in the clothes first.” Whether the photo was taken at Maxim’s or next to the pinball machine at a neighborhood bar, Avedon evoked a sense of joy in the moment. The setting was expressionistic, a swirl of out-of-focus flashing lights, but the structure of the dresses (waist, low-cut, petal-like layers of a Dior skirt) was so carefully lit that a clever seamstress could have made an exact replica from the image on the page. “I do it automatically now, without even thinking about it,” Avedon said of his close interest in couture art. The great innovator and revolutionary of fashion photography was also a strict traditionalist.