Richard Avedon: a photographic career influenced by France

 
Left : Richard Avedon, New York, novembre 1966. Photographie J H Lartigue © Ministère de la Culture - France / AAJHL
Right : Audrey Hepburn, Mel Ferrer et Buster Keaton dans «Paris Pursuit» pour Harper’s Bazaar, Paris, 9 août 1959 Photographie Richard Avedon © The Richard Avedon Foundation

His pictures are simply iconic, Richard Avedon is remembered as one of the greatest American photographers. From emblematic portraits, to his fashion series for the most important magazines and advertising campaigns for prestigious Parisian fashion houses, not to mention his personal work about the American west, Avedon captured it all in a very authentic way. His models are most often celebrities, many of them French, chosen from the art and fashion background during the second half of the twentieth century. Avedon had a unique relationship with France and seemed to have been inspired by its culture, aesthetic and lifestyle.

This is the focus of the exhibit at the National Library of France, the famous Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, which showcases the photographer’s selected work until February 26th. The exhibition brings together some 200 pieces to tell the story of the work that he developed in connection with France, displayed around four essential topics. French celebrity portraits, Funny Face, movie star Audrey Hepburn, mostly shot in France, pictures for French magazine Égoïste, with whom he collaborated over a long time, as well as Diary of a Century, a photography book by French artist Lartigue. It feels like a journey of Avedon’s work looking through the lens of his successive engagements with France.

 
Left : Audrey Hepburn, actrice sur le plateau de Funny Face, Paris, 1956 Photographie Richard Avedon © The Richard Avedon Foundation
Right : Catherine Deneuve, actrice, Los Angeles, 22 septembre 1968 Photographie Richard Avedon © The Richard Avedon Foundation

Experiencing the show is like observing current trends while being thrown back into a photographic black and white universe. Jean Cocteau, Coco Chanel, Catherine Deneuve, Jeanne Moreau, Isabelle Adjani, Marylin Monroe, The Beatles, Andy Warhol: going over those faces is a reminder that Avedon did not only capture the soul of his models, but he also got the core of almost fifty years of a glamourous way of life. If by chance you are visiting Paris during the next few weeks, don’t miss this exhibition to uncover Avedon’s French itinerary.