Throughout Avedon’s career, he became most famous for his portraits. Avedon’s photos were mostly taken in a well lit studio with a white backdrop. The unique style of his portraits is known as minimalism. His photographic style is considered minimalistic because Avedon had the ability to expose the identity and personality of his subjects with just a white backdrop; he didn’t need a formal setting to take control of his photo. With his empty studio, Avedon allowed his subjects to move freely with gave his photos a sense of spontaneity. With the white background, it draws your attention more to the person, who is the subject of the photo. Avedon once said about his portraits, “A photographic portrait is a picture of someone who knows he’s being photographed and what he does with this knowledge is as much a part of the photograph as what he's wearing or how he looks.”
Avedon received criticism from everyone when he released his project, which was a series of photos of his dying father. I don’t think Avedon did this picture out of bitterness and hatred more like love and fear. Far as any type of parent relationship with their child, there will be times when the child dislike the parent or the parent dislike the child for actions they don’t agree with. At the end of the day they still love each other. Only time there would be hatred and bitterness towards a parental figure is if that child experience abuse or there was no type of relationship established.
I think Avedon took the pictures of his because he has a fear of death or he doesn’t want to die in pain from a sickness like his father. Also, Avedon probably took those photos in remembrance of his father because his father would be dying sometime soon. The photos weren’t too invasive because his father probably had to give him permission to take the photos. The only way I see them as invasive, is if Avedon was taking pictures without his father knowing. Avedon would never take pictures without his subject knowing because he’s always interested in the humans’ predicaments and the emotional energy humans give off. The project id not disturbing to pursue, it’s like taking pictures of another person; it’s not a picture of a dead body from a crime scene.
If Richard Avedon was voted as one of the top ten greatest photographers of all time, then he doesn’t owe society anything at all. I think he deserves all the praise that he gets because he re-invented photographic styles. He proved that he doesn’t need props or a formal setting in the background to portray an image. Avedon seems as if he challenges himself to do something new and interesting. He’s like the Andy Warhol of photography. By the end of his career, he became an influence to others and he didn’t mind to help other photographers to perfect their craft.