Photographer 1 - Richard Avedon

Photographer 1 - Richard Avedon:

Richard Avedon was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He was said to have "helped define America's image of style". The reason i have chosen to include his work is because his work can be an influence of different things. I can look at his style of portraits and use his style as a way of looking at emotions in people. I can also look at his style of fashion photography to evidence peoples own style and individuality.

These two images are examples of Avedon's portraiture, his work shows in these images examples of different emotions within different people. I like how the emotions of the images are the main focus, when you look at his images you can immediately see the emotion of the person. What i enjoy about these images is that you cannot tell why this emotion is being felt, and through the use of black and white the images start of the same but differ mainly when it comes to the emotion.

These two images are examples of his work with fashion, they show how some of the images are more out there while others are more toned down. In the image above the outfit is filling up the majority of the shot, and becomes the main focus. In this image Avedon didn't need to include anything else to the shot or to have other things going on to make the image become busy. In the image below, the idea of the image comes across as a more soft idea. While the outfit does take up a large proportion of the shot, the way that the model is standing and the way that the dress flows allows the image to come a cross in a more delicate way. These two different images example differences within the styles of the outfits and how the whole concept of the image can change with a different style of outfit. 

Avedon's work is an influence for me because i like the way that the whole idea of the image can change according to the outfit of the model. I also like the way that his use of outfit can help to show a persons character. I like the idea of using portraiture to portray emotions as i like how that can be the centre of an image without anything else being important. I think that i will include a lot of his style in my work as i think that his style of photography can be something that i can replicate and include into my project.

To summarise i will incorporate Avedon's style of photography into my work because i like the way that he styles his shoots. I have found that his work fits well into my topic and that it has influenced me to explore different ideas. His work will work well with my topic when looking at evidences of people as i can use it to explore individuality, emotions and style.