I am, and forever will be, devastated by the gift of Audrey Hepburn before my camera. I cannot lift her to greater heights. She is already there. I can only record. I cannot interpret her. There is no going further than who she is. She has achieved in herself her ultimate portrait.
Interpretation
The quote expresses awe for Audrey Hepburn's natural beauty and artistry, highlighting the photographer's role in capturing rather than enhancing her essence.
Richard Avedon reflects on his profound admiration for Audrey Hepburn, emphasizing that her intrinsic qualities and charisma are already of the highest caliber, making it impossible for him, as a photographer, to elevate her image further. Instead, his role is merely to capture her essence, acknowledging that Hepburn's true artistry and beauty are inherent and require no additional interpretation or enhancement.
In practice
In a speech at a photography exhibition, one might say, 'As Richard Avedon illustrated with Audrey Hepburn, great art lies in capturing the essence of the subject.'
There's always been a separation between fashion and what I call my 'deeper' work. Fashion is where I make my living. I'm not knocking it. It's a pleasure to make a living that way. It's pleasure and then there's the deeper pleasure of doing my portraits. It's not important what I consider myself to be, but I consider myself to be a portrait photographer.
I never wanted to be called an artist. I wanted to be called a photographer.
Photography has always reminded me of the second child.. trying to prove itself. The fact that it wasn't really considered an art.. that it was considered a craft.. has trapped almost every serious photographer.
My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.
When you pose for a photograph, it's behind a smile that isn't yours. You are angry and hungry and alive. What I value in you is that intensity. I want to make portraits as intense as people.
I think all art is about control, the encounter between control and uncontrollable.
Through art we express our conception of what nature is not.
Casting sometimes is fate and destiny more than skill and talent, from a director's point of view.
I want to make sure everyone's having a good time because when I ask you to come to my movie, I'm throwing a party for you. I want you to enjoy it.
To me more dear, congenial to my heart, One native charm, than all the gloss of art.
I wasn't exposed to art as I was growing up, and can't recall the first time I saw a work of art. However, I remember very clearly a vision I had of a little green reindeer when I was a child, and visions emanate from the same mythical area where painting resides. Whatever the reason, I immediately felt comfortable working with visual materials.
After all everybody, that is, everybody who writes is interested in living inside themselves in order to tell what is inside themselves. That is why writers have to have two countries, the one where they belong and the one in which they live really. The second one is romantic, is is separate from themselves, it is not real but it is really there.
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