My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.
Interpretation
Avedon conveys that his photography reflects his own identity and vision more than the subjects he captures.
This quote by Richard Avedon highlights the subjective nature of art, particularly photography. Avedon suggests that rather than simply capturing the external appearances of his subjects, his portraits are a reflection of his own thoughts, emotions, and experiences. Consequently, the viewer is invited to consider not only the person in the photograph but also the artistic perspective of the photographer, emphasizing the interplay between the artist and their subject.
In practice
In a photography exhibit, one could present Avedon's quote to discuss the emotional connection photographers have with their subjects.
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 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.
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.
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.
I'm playing deep African music.
Against barbarity, poetry can resist only by confirming its attachment to human fragility like a blade of grass growing on a wall while armies march by.
The call for diversity is about recognizing that in order to be in the conversation come awards season, it goes back to the content that is being produced.
I did not go into the film business to be symbolized as someone else's vision of me.
A good artist should be isolated. If he isn't isolated, something is wrong.
Art is a never-ending dance of illusions.
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