Avedon’s photographic impact comes from stripping away everything extraneous so the audience, the subject, and a white background remain. A film about his work can seem unnecessary because the art itself carries the meaning. The footage shows his working methods and includes anecdotes from friends that convey his personality and habits. He felt the camera got in his way and wanted to photograph directly with his eyes, later changing to a system that let him stand beside the lens. He approached photography like a hunter waiting for the right shot, taking time to capture unguarded images from highly camera-aware people. His political engagement appears through portraits of civil rights figures, Vietnam War officials, and his New Yorker “Democracy” series.
"If, as is suggested early in Ron Howard's documentary “Avedon,” the genius of an archetypal Richard Avedon photograph lies in how it strips away everything extraneous-so that nothing remains but the audience, the subject, and a white background-then making a film about Avedon might be counterproductive. Additional context is irrelevant; the art is the thing."
"It is interesting to hear that Avedon felt the camera essentially got in his way, and that if he could, he would have snapped photos directly with his eyes. (He eventually switched to a system that allowed him to stand beside the lens instead of behind it.) Isabella Rossellini compares him to a hunter waiting for his shot, an attitude she contrasts with the snap-happy photographers she indicates populate the fashion world."
"We hear about how much time it took Avedon to get an unguarded image from someone as used to cameras as Marilyn Monroe. His approach to politics is examined through his pictures of civil rights figures, Vietnam War officials, and the New Yorker “Democracy” series he was working on at the time of his death in 2004."
"Still, “Avedon”-showing in Cannes's Special Screenings section-has more than its share of sharp insights into the photographer's working methods, along with some good gossip about his interactions with (seemingly) nearly every important personality of the 20th century. While the worshipful tone in Howard's movie is what you'd expect from a profile produced in association with the Richard Avedon Foundation-there are a few asides about how barbs from art critics stung-there is ample footage of Avedon himself, and anecdotes from friends provide a vivid sense of his personality."
Read at Roger Ebert
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