Richard Avedon's Timeless Portraits of the American West

"Between 1979 and 1984, the feted US photographer Richard Avedon at that time best known for his fashion photography and celebrity portraiture ventured across 21 states with a small crew of assistants in a bid to capture the unknown denizens of the American West. He shot outdoors on an old-fashioned 8 x 10 inch camera, erecting a white backdrop against which to capture his subjects, who ranged from miners, cowboys, slaughterhouse workers, waitresses, truckers, teenagers and drifters."

"The result became In the American West, a series of 126 large-scale prints, whittled down from more than 1,000 sittings conducted. Titled with the subjects' name, age and occupation, each photograph is a masterclass in emotionally wrought storytelling. I'm looking for a new definition of a photographic portrait Avedon had stated, people who are surprising heartbreaking or beautiful in a terrifying way. Beauty that might scare you to death until you acknowledge it as part of yourself."

"When I started at the foundation, I was tasked with organising the hundreds of Polaroid images taken of the subjects during the [making of the] western series, Caroline Avedon tells AnOther of the moment that In the American West first got under her skin. Wow, was I taken aback. The sheer volume of people, all so unique and beautiful in their own ways, sparked a very intense admiration for the project."

Between 1979 and 1984 Richard Avedon traveled across 21 states with a small crew, photographing the American West on an 8 x 10 inch camera against a white backdrop. He captured miners, cowboys, slaughterhouse workers, waitresses, truckers, teenagers and drifters in more than 1,000 sittings, producing a final series of 126 large-scale prints titled with each subject's name, age and occupation. The portraits emphasize emotionally wrought storytelling and unsettlingly beautiful human presence. Caroline Avedon, curator and archivist at The Richard Avedon Foundation, organised the project's Polaroids and selected 21 prints for Facing West, an exhibition at Gagosian's Grosvenor Hill in London that invites reappraisal of the series.

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