Influencer Series: Richard Avedon, The Master.

Inspiration keeps us going through these tough times. And there is no shortage of inspiration that comes from photography. We bring plenty of our own voice as New York corporate headshot photographers. But there is no denying that as corporate and business photographers, we also bring with us plenty of inspiration. We are, at heart, total photography dorks and as photography dorks that live and work in New York, inspired and always taking advantage of the opportunity to visit museums and galleries (in non Coronavirus times) to pile on more and learn more about the legends and our contemporaries, alike.

Avedon is one of our heros and among the 3 biggest inspirations to us, creatively. He was a master of form, light and subject. While he is known for fashion the work that inspires us as business photographers, is his documentary portraits.

Avedon pulled something out of his subjects that was genuine. You look at his photos and whether or not you knew who they were or what they did. One look at the photo and you would have some kind of idea. There was rarely any agenda pushing (though the legendary story of how he got the reaction photo of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor might be an exception to the rule). His images had a candid-ness, a gesture, an expression, that really told us something about the subject without being hokey or in your face.

While he is widely known for his fashion portraits, we are very drawn to his more documentary portraits. He covered so many subjects and was always able to create something revealing. You could look at the portraits and understand something about the subject right away. Sometimes it was the context or environment in which they were photographed. But more often than not, he put his subjects on white. He felt that nothing and no one could hide on a stark white background. It was a clean, open and revealing palette.

Avedon had a masterful vision for creating photographs. Technically speaking, his whites were clean and there was an all around balance. He was less after a perfectly polished smooth skin look that would flatter the subject and more after what was genuine. This is not to say that he did not manipulate his images. Avedon relied heavily on his team of shooting assistants and retouchers to get to the right final product. But his vision was more about composition or revealing an idea or personality or genuine representation of the subject.

As for his process, he tended to use a roleiflex camera to frame up and explore the subject. It was a modern and quick (for the time), way to work, something that allowed him to move around his subjects, and compositions. Sometimes, when this exploratory work was done, he would move on to an 8x10 camera. This was a larger camera requiring a slower process and the supplies were expensive. But the results from these giant negatives, were magnificent.

Avedon - Three Impressive Women, Professional Portraits

Today we are taking an opportunity to highlighting his work through the professional portraits he did of 3 women who made an impact in their worlds. They showed leadership and, through their talent and actions, influenced so many others. These are excellent examples of portrait photography.

Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman in Congress. She was elected in 1968.

Shirley's professors at Brooklyn College, where she graduated cum laude, encouraged her to run for office. She felt she had no chance, due to what she considered her 'double handicap' of being black and female. But she stayed involved in racial and gender inequality issues through her work with the NAACP and the League of Women Voters.

This woman was, indeed, elected to the US Congress in 1968 and was nicknamed 'Fighting Shirley', introducing massive amounts of legislation to champion racial and gender equality. She was also a founding member of the National Women's Political Caucus, insuring that other politically hopeful women could follow in her footstep

In this portrait of Ms. Chisholm, we see Avedon bringing these ideas into the photograph. He seems to see her as a no nonsense straight shooter. She is directly centered in the photograph with her hands down by her side and a direct expression on her face. She is dressed in a military-inspired outfit, perhaps meant to underscore her 'Fighting Shirley' reputation. She is down to business and if this were from an executive headshot photographer, we would know something about how this lady does business.

Katherine Graham

Katharine Graham was the Chairman of the Board of the Washington Post Company.

Here is a woman who never considered that she, a woman, would be a suitable heir for the Washington Post. When her husband, the Post then current chief, took his life she saw that she would have to step in and, at least temporarily, keep the machine going.

Where Shirley Chisholm was bold and self-assured, Katharine Graham did not much believe in her herself. She felt she would be there to do an adequate job, having learned something from her father's legacy, until they could find a new man or (probably) even her sons, to take over. Instead, she persevered, learned as much as she could and made some of the most bold and important decisions ever made in the field of journalism.

Ms. Graham shows that it is possible to step into a role that it is possible to step into a role that feels both daunting and out of her depth. She shows that mistakes and missteps are part of the process. That sometimes there is no choice but to move forward, to believe that in the power to do it, even when the stakes are incredibly high and one might not feel 100% prepared.

And, again, Avedon communicates these contrasts through his portrait of her. Here is an executive portrait of a woman with both convictions but, in my opinion, a somewhat questioning look. She has her arms crossed in that boss lady posture. Those large hard edge glasses she holds provide contrast against her soft dress and somewhat soft overall feeling. They feel like a choice both to say something about her as a person and as a graphic element.

Marian Anderson

Finally, we have Marian Anderson, a supremely talented singer who performed between 1925-1965. Avedon's photo is of Marian Anderson in 1955 and happens to be one of our favorite portraits of all time.

Ms. Anderson was widely loved for her inspiring vocal talent with a famous story about an important performance. She was invited to sing for an integrated audience in Washington DC but, as a Black woman, refused the right to take the stage at Constitution Hall. Constitution Halls was governed by the Daughters of the American Revolution and they would not permit a black woman on their stage. This was presumably the only place big enough to accommodate all who wanted to hear this magnificent woman sing.

It turns out there was another option. Instead of playing to Constitution Hall with its 3702 seats, Marian Anderson was hosted on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the National Mall to a crowd of 75,000. Millions more listened on the radio.

In his portrait of Marian Anderson, Avedon clearly wanted to show the world her passion. In a typical photo, her hair would be pulled back tight and her hands neatly in front of her. In this photo, she was singing an operatic passage. Her hair is flowing and her face conveys a strength and passion. The photo was originally shot much wider, but Avedon upped the drama closely cropping to her face and moving it off center.

Avedon's Influence: The Booth for Business and Corporate Headshot Photographers

Like other professional portrait photographers before us, this New York business headshot photographers is very much influenced by Richard Avedon's work. There is the power of a black and white image, to start. Avedon did not exclusively shoot black and white but he did it so very well. We love the contrast, the clean whites and how it required the viewer to fill in the blanks a bit. Here is an example of how we have used the technique in our work.

We also think a lot about how he achieved drama through his dynamic compositions. Doing corporate headshots or executive headshots, we might not have as much room to play around with drama. But we can use composition to create more interest. We can use small doses of this to bring in more of the professional personality of the subject in their professional headshot.

Avedon was great at working with people, which is why he often achieved such genuine portraits. We think a lot about this aspect of how he worked. For us, we are thinking about how we can make people feel comfortable in front of the camera. We are also getting asked how we can bring the personality of the business into the corporate headshot. Even in very established industries that lean into a more traditional look, we are being asked, as New York executive headshot photographers, to allow for more individuality. We love how we can use these elements to challenge what a corporate headshot has to be.

A few years before he passed, we met Richard Avedon, himself a New York photographer, at Lincoln Center in New York City. He was outside chatting with a friend and, of course we just had to say hello. He was friendly and gracious. It was a moment, as photographers, we will never forget.