Natalia's Photography Blog

  Richard Avedon changed the standard view of portraiture with focusing less on perfection and more on the subjects as people. His images capture the sides of people that would usually go unnoticed. Often the subjects are looking away from the camera rather than straight on, shifting the attention of the viewer to question what they are looking at. The subjects also seem to be in motion in many photos, instead of posed and still. These candid pictures are effective at capturing the moment rather than the beauty of the person. Avedon also enforced the use of high, extreme contrast which I personally loved. Like in the photo above, the extreme light and dark areas contrast each other; the bees, which are usually seen as harmful, are the darkness that almost seems like it is engulfing the pale man, even though his expressionless face shows that he is not fazed by this. I think the choice of a white background is also interesting considering the man is very pale and almost blends into it,