Richard Avedon exhibition

A good relationship between a fashion house and a photographer can be every bit as important in establishing a luxury brand as the quality of the fashion itself. One of the greatest examples is that of Versace and American photographer Richard Avedon: in homage to his seminal campaign shots the former is currently hosting an exhibition of the latter’s portfolio at Forma, Milan’s International Centre for Photography.

Click here to see images from the exhibition

Often shooting straight on, there’s an inescapable honesty to Avedon’s portraiture. Whilst apparent in his fashion and celebrity portfolios, this skill is even clearer in the many more political projects, which varied from a series on the Brandenburg Gate shortly after the Berlin Wall came down to the workers of the oil field workers and miners of the mid-West.

Widely credited with breaking down the rigid boundaries between studio and reportage photography, Avedon was a character who succeeded in transcending the celebrity of his often notorious subjects. Be it Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Truman Capote or Andy Warhol, Avedon time and again captured the fragile person behind the public persona and consequently many of his pictures are etched into our consciousness as real representations rather than mere studio portraits.

26 February 2008 | Art