Richard Avedon (1923–2004) was an American photographer who transformed both fashion and portrait photography. Working for Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and The New Yorker, he introduced movement and psychological tension into editorial images. His stark white-background portraits culminated in projects including In the American West, while books such as Observations expanded his practice through sequencing and collaboration. Darwin selects Avedon for collapsing distinctions between commission, portrait, social document and constructed photographic performance.
