Richard Avedon

When asked to name his idols, Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld listed six: "Personally, my parents and my sister. Professionally, Tom Sachs, John Currin, and Richard Avedon for his photography." Avedon was an American photographer about whom The New York Times exalts, "His fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty, and culture for the last half-century."

He began his career snapping ID photos for the Merchant Marines but somehow managed to capture the attention of Alexey Brodovitch, art director for Harper's Bazaar at that time. Avedon soon established his own studio and began selling photos to magazines such as Life. From the beginning, he refused to conform to the industry standard for fashion photography, instead catching his models in action and full of emotion.

In 1966, Avedon started shooting for Vogue and was responsible for most of the covers from 1973 until late 1988. He became known for his large-format portraits, typically in a minimalist style with the subject posed against a stark white backdrop looking directly into the lens.

None other than the amazing Audrey Hepburn inspired Avedon as his muse during the 1950s and 1960s; as he says, "I am, and forever will be, devastated by the gift of Audrey Hepburn before my camera. I cannot lift her to greater heights. She is already there. I can only record. I cannot interpret her. There is no going further than who she is. She has achieved in herself her ultimate portrait."

Avedon himself inspired the 1957 musical Funny Face, which stars Fred Astaire as the fashion photographer "Dick Avery." Clearly he provided many of the images used in the film as well including the most famous, an overexposed closeup of Hepburn in which we recognize the actress from just the details of her eyes, nose, and mouth. Note that Vladimir is not the only member of the Roitfeld family with fantastic taste in photographers, sister Julia is a fan as well with copies of Avedon's books Portraits and Woman in the Mirror in her library.

Richard Avedon photograph © 2008 The Richard Avedon Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face photograph by Richard Avedon © 2008 Phantom Sound & Vision. All Rights Reserved.