Dating back to the cavemen who painted on the walls of their caves throughout the generations since, ever since the beginning human life, we have felt a need to document our experiences and actions. Though initially the normal way to do so was drawing, eventually a revolutionary invention was created.
After the creation of the camera obsucra, which produced a scene through a small hole, by 1826, the first permanent image was created.
Once it was further developed, the camera, though rather large, produced black and white images of objects.
Usually used to document people who were wealthy enough to afford the images taken it was highly selective and entailed a sort of status.
By the 20th century, fashion had a growing market and popularity. With the creation of the photo, people began to understand how important it could be to the business. Quickly stores began to document their clothing posting “advertisements” in their windows to captivate passer-byers. However, the first pictures did not show much emotion and were in a sense very cold.
Richard Avedon, who would grow to be a famous American photographer was born in New York City in 1923. His father a Russian immigrant, owned a clothing store on Fifth Ave, and his mother was from a dress manufacturing family. Surrounded by fashion, it was only a matter of time until he too followed family footsteps in a similar career.
Growing up in a Jewish family, he went to school at the Young Men’s Hebrew Association. His mother, being fond of art and fashion, helped develop and push his creative side. At the Hebrew school Avedon began to experiment with the camera and found that not only was it something that he loved, but also something that he was very good at. He purchased his first camera, the Kodak Box Brownie, a cardboard made box aimed towards children use. It had simple controls and a cheap lens but nonetheless, it did the job. Though eventually she developed schizophrenia, his first model was his picturesque sister Louise. Shooting photos of her movement and demeanor, he further developed his eye in the field. Though she was beautiful, each photo taken of her showed a deeper and darker story. She looked very put together but viewers could see a pain in her eyes.
His father, who was strict, thought the primary fact of their lives should be strength, money and education. With these morals that he tried to push upon them, he eventually ended up straining the relationship between he and his children. Avedon, who had been surrounded by style his entire life then went on to work on advertising and photographing for the fashion advertising department in a large department store. It was here that his skill was noticed. Gaining recognition by the art director of Harpers Bazaar magazine, he quickly was hired and by 1952 he became a staff director.
Though still working at Harpers Bazar, he set up his own studio and was also shooting for other companies such as Vogue and Life magazine. Quickly, he became distinguished from other photographers because he strayed away from the regular shot and style of previous generations. Similar to his previous style with his sister, much of his work showed emotion in the model and even in a way the emotion of the clothes being worn. Nothing was off limits and anything from smiling to anger was used.
Avedon went into many shoots with the belief that the only truth of any of it was the emotion that lay in the body expression of his model. With this notion he would try to pry out the somewhat animalistic and natural inner feelings. Even if that meant dwelling on harsh yet false realities, each time at the end, everything would be true, though a lot of the time many people being photographed did not like the finished and chosen photos.
Born in Pittsburg Pennsylvania around the same time, Andy Warhol too did not fit the regular mold. His parents, immigrants from Slovakia, immigrated to the United States where his father worked in a coal mine though he was killed in an accident. By third grade Warhol had developed a disease that was attacking his nervous system. His skin became blotchy and he sometimes had spuratic and uncontrollable movements. Though he was in ad out of the hospital, he developed a fear of the hospitals and doctors who were seeing him. Because of his illness he was bed ridden for much of his childhood and became a social outcast. As a result of being bedridden for the majority of the time however, he focused solely on his artistic skills, which helped develop them further.
With the original plan to become an art teacher, he instead enrolled into a technology school with a focus in commercial art. He began to experiment in other artistic fields such as dance and theatre as well. During the same time, he became head of the art section of the schools magazine further fueling his passion.
After moving to New York to kick of his career Warhol began to experiment with photography as well. He viewed the camera as a way to freeze time while prying the emotion away from people permanently.
I think many similarities can be seen in Warhol and Avedon’s work. They both have a sort of minimalistic feel. Because of their use of blank backgrounds in their photo-shoots, the model or intended object is what primarily stands out.
When shooting people, the majority of the shots are close up. Both artists focus on the face also. Usually the models are not smiling yet with close views of the face comes the obvious realization that there still is much emotion and story there. Avedon however, I think approached each photo thinking that the story was already there. Warhol, used the photo to tell a story.
With the notion that there is a story there, for myself and I am sure for others as well, comes a deeper question about what not only each photographer was thinking, but what the background story is for each model. This adds to the intrigue and captivation. Because we all have emotions, it connects with the viewer which I think this gives them a realer feel. This I feel is different from many other photographers who focus simply on the glamour and unrealistic side of a shoot.
With Avedon’s idea came originality, which, at the time, was unheard of. Previous fashion photographers before him had no focus on the real life of the character or the clothes themselves. Avedon’s focus however contrasted that and focused on both, thus resulting in beautiful and natural movement in most of his frames. Similar to this movement and grace that Avedon’s photos had, Warhol too embraced likewise movement. Though his ideas and shoots were a bit more controversial, you can tell that he too understood the power of body language and the beauty of movement.
Warhol too believed that there was truth in photography, however, no matter what the picture was, he believed the whole of it was so. This may be the reasoning behind his idea to never re-edit his work.
Many people believe that the camera has the ability to see what the eye cannot. Similar to what John Szarkowski mentions in the Photography Reader,(Szarkowski,100) I believe that it is not just the work of the photographer. The camera, though it is just a machine, has a sort of magic in it that I think draws out character from what it is taking a photo of. In a way it focuses on things that either do not stand out to the normal human eye, or are simply over looked which gives the subject a narrative of truth. Though a picture potentially freezes a minute in time, there is so much more that goes on outside of the frame yet somehow it captures every little detail.
I think both Avedon and Warhol both potentially saw these things and their beauty. Living everyday life, we tend to over look smaller details yet I think because their photography has such raw emotion, this is what it makes it stand out to me. Our normal actions in front of cameras are no longer normal because we have been conditioned to smile and seem happy while being viewed. We think that those pictures where we smile and seem happy are the best ones yet much of the time, I believe that the photos that turn out the best are the ones that we either have no idea are happening or are an actual normal reaction. With this idea, it captures the actual story and real life characteristics of the person. Upon viewing their works that style has further developed my idea of what I like to capture in photos.
Works Cited
“Andy Warhol’s Polaroids: The Genius behind the Artist.” BBC News. BBC. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.
Avedon, Richard. In the American West. New York: Abrams, 2005. Print.
Avedon, Richard. Marilyn Monroe. 1957.
Avedon, Richard. The American West. 1985.
Avedon, Richard. The Duchess and Duke of Windsor. 1957
Avedon, Richard. Dovima with the Elephants. 1955
Kim, Eric. “5 Lessons Richard Avedon Has Taught Me About Street Photography.” Eric Kim. 2014. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.
“Warhol — Painter, Filmmaker.” Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.
Warhol, Andy. Jerry Hall. 1976
Warhol, Andy. Andy Warhol. 1978
Warhol, Andy. Grace Jones. 1958
Wells, Liz. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2003. Print. Page 100. Szarkowski