Richard Avedon stands among the most influential photographers of the second half of the twentieth century. Over a career that unfolded across six decades, he expanded the possibilities of the medium through portraits and fashion photographs that feel at once precise and startlingly alive. His work helped shift photography's cultural standing, bringing it into closer conversation with the institutions and expectations long reserved for fine art. Avedon's early solo museum exhibitions included the Smithsonian in 1962 and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in 1970. In 1978, he became the first living photographer to be granted a fashion retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, returning there for a second major presentation in 2002. His work has also been presented in major exhibitions at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. His publications trace an equally wide arc. He began with Observations (1959), featuring an essay by Truman Capote. In 1964, he and his high school friend James Baldwin published Nothing Personal, a book shaped by the tensions and reckonings of American life. Richard Avedon died on October 1, 2004. He established The Richard Avedon Foundation during his lifetime.
Laura Avedon and James Martin are the directors of the Richard Avedon Foundation in New York City.
Rebecca Arnold is senior lecturer in history of dress and textiles at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. Her books include The American Look (2008) and Fashion: A Short Introduction (2009). She lives in London.