Avedon at Work: In the American West

by Laura Wilson, Larry McMurtry (Introduction)

Internationally acclaimed for his portraits of powerful and accomplished people and women of great beauty, Richard Avedon was one of the twentieth century's greatest photographers—but perhaps not the most obvious choice to create a portrait of ordinary people of the American West. Yet in 1979, the Amon Carter Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, daringly commissioned him to do just that. The resulting 1985 exhibition and book, In the American West, was a milestone in American photography and Avedon's most important body of work. His unflinching portraits of oilfield and slaughterhouse workers, miners, waitresses, drifters, mental patients, teenagers, and others captured the unknown and often-ignored people who work at hard, uncelebrated jobs. Making no apologies for shattering stereotypes of the West and Westerners, Avedon said, "I'm looking for a new definition of a photographic portrait. I'm looking for 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." Photographer Laura Wilson worked with Avedon during the six years he was making In the American West. In Avedon at Work, she presents a unique photographic record of his creation of this masterwork—the first time a major photographer has been documented in great depth over an extended period of time. She combines images she made during the photographic sessions with entries from her journal to show Avedon's working methods, his choice of subjects, his creative process, and even his experiments and failures. Also included are a number of Avedon's finished portraits, as well as his own comments and letters from some of the subjects. Avedon at Work adds a new dimension to our understanding of one of the twentieth century's most significant series of portraits. For everyone interested in the creative process it confirms that, in Laura Wilson's words, "much as all these photographs may appear to be moments that just occurred, they are finally, in varying degrees, works of the imagination."

Genres: Photography, Art, Biography, History, Visual Art, Nonfiction

132 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2003

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Laura Wilson is an English crime-writer based in London, where she was born and raised. She has degrees in English Literature form Somerville College, Oxford, and University College London, and has worked as a teacher and editor of non-fiction.

Many of her novels have either a historical setting or a distinct historical connection, and often have split or dual narratives. Her first novel, A Little Death was shortlsited for a CWA Dagger award, and her fifth, The Lover was short listed for both the CWA Gold Dagger and the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger.

Reviews

[Bulat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book! I loved seeing how Richard composed and created his breathtaking photographs.

[Nickolas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating look at how Avedon shot "Into the American West" and the stories and anecdotes that came out of the making of that book over many years of shooting.

[Dafydd Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely inspiring book.
Lovely to have and see the photographs considering I don't have a copy of Avedon's In the American West
However not sure the price tag is warranted

[Philippe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a most illuminating companion to Richard Avedon's famous monograph In the American West. It provides privileged insight into the artist's way of working based on a long personal acquaintance and professional relationship.

Laura Wilson accompanied Avedon during the six summers in which he shot his monumental portfolio of portraits of ordinary folk in America's heartland - miners, ranchers, drifters, prisoners, ... . She researched and planned the trips and was instrumental in building relationships with potential portraitees.

Wilson is an accomplished photographer herself and kept a compelling visual diary of the project. Her book is a delightful mix of reminiscences, snapshots and artefacts. It documents the evolving scope and depth of the project, key encounters, failed experiments and some of the relationships with sitters that continued well after the end of the project.

We also learn about Avedon's tenacity and uncompromising professionalism: "In the end Richard Avedon photographed 752 people, using 17.000 sheets of film. We worked in 17 states and 189 towns. From this collection he chose 123 photographs for the exhibition at the Amon Carter Museum. The negatives for these portraits are now in the museum's archive with the photographer's directive that they never be printed from again. All the other negatives were destroyed ..."

The book's vibrant backbone is formed by a selection of Avedon's final images.

A word of appreciation for the book's design that provides a very natural and agreeable setting for this layered narrative.

[Allisonperkel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm just beginning to really learn more about Avedon; one of the greatest photographers of the 20th century. This book, written by Laura Wilson, a fellow photographer who travelled with Avedon around the west for one of his seminal works, offers a small peek into the mind of Avedon.

I must warn you that the insights deal with how Avedon approaches people - there is no technique, no discussion of lighting, nothing technical at all. For me, this is exactly what I wanted from the book. However, if you expecting any of these, you'll want to look elsewhere.

What this book does offer is a wonderful overview of the thoughts behind "In the American West". You begin to feel how Avedon approaches his subjects and how he connects to them. It also gives a feel for the final product - in the case of "In the American West" it was 123 prints out of 17,000.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this as a gift, but then we broke up and kept it as a parting gift to myself and could not have been happier. This book chronicles Avedon's groundbreaking trip through the American west, shooting portraits of migrant workers, miners, vagabonds and everyday folk. There are glimpses behind the scenes and of his process and full page reproductions of the goregeous BW images. Avedon changed the way we look at a photo portrait and this book will change the way you look at Avedon.

[Christopher Lehmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Avedon monograph. We all know the images. We all know the power of seeing them in person in a museum (with not too many other folks looking or nearby, hopefully). But going through this book image by image and then reading Laura Wilson's Background at the end of the book is to experience this project in a grander sense.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating look at Richard Avedon's work to create the photographic series "In the American West". I checked the book out of the library several weeks ago and skimmed through it, then sat down yesterday and read the whole book cover to cover. Laura Wilson's writing is simple but very insightful and helped me understand many current trends in portraiture.

[Zack · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than just a photography book, this is a book about connecting and seeing what is in people. It is about Avedon's process of portrature in the session and before in how he choose people and what he saw in them.

Very easy read as well leaving lots of time to contemplate the ideas.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brisk read of what it was like to be Richard Avedon's assistant. Photos from the "In The American West" series are discussed and analyzed. As a bonus, the author is Luke and Owen Wilson's mom.

[Cecelia]

Absolutly wonderful. That's about all I can say

[Tevilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an interesting read about the creative process of Richard Avedon.

Highly recommended

[Michal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A description of Avedon's project and modus operandi in the American West.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

“A portrait photographer depends upon another person to complete his picture.”