Avedon, Richard, 1923–2004, American photographer, b. New York City. Son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, he studied philosophy at Columbia Univ., served in the photographic section of the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II, and then studied photography at the New School. As a magazine staff photographer for Harper's Bazaar (1945–65) and Vogue (1966–90), Avedon redefined fashion photography as an art form in which realism mixed with fantasy, and he also became known for his arresting celebrity pictures. Although he originally used out-of-door settings with models in motion, his later work, predominantly consisting of studio portraits set against a plain white background, is stark and known for its uncompromising realism. Mainly black-and-white, these powerful images of the famous and the unknown gain impact from the larger-than-life format in which they are often printed. New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibited his work in 1978 and 2002, and he had several other museum shows. His books include Nothing Personal (1964), Portraits (1976), In the American West (1985), An Autobiography (1993), and Made in France (2001). Avedon was staff photographer for The New Yorker from 1992 until his death.

Avedon, Richard

(born May 15, 1923, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Oct. 1, 2004, San Antonio, Texas) U.S. photographer. He began studying photography in the U.S. merchant marine. In 1945 he became a regular contributor to Harper's Bazaar; he later was closely associated with Vogue. Avedon's fashion photographs are characterized by a strong black-and-white contrast that creates an effect of austere sophistication. In his portraits of celebrities and other sitters, he created a sense of drama by often using a stark, white background and eliciting a frontal, confrontational pose. Many collections of his photographs have been published.

Avedon, Richard (1923– ) photographer; born in New York City. A product of the public schools, he was a fashion photographer for Harper's (1945–65) and a student of Alexey Brodovitch. Known for his stark portraits of people in unusual poses, he published his first book of celebrity portraits, Observations, in 1959. In 1963 he left his studio to photograph the Civil Rights movement and the Anti-War movement, winning a national magazine award for visual excellence in 1976.