groping in the dark

Richard Avedon, 1923-2004

Via the New York Times.

Richard Avedon, whose fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century, died today in a hospital in San Antonio, Tex. He was 81 and lived in Manhattan.

The cause was complications of a cerebral hemorrhage suffered last Saturday, said his son, John. Mr. Avedon was in Texas on assignment for The New Yorker magazine, which hired him in 1992 as its first staff photographer.

Mr. Avedon's photographs captured the freedom, excitement and energy of fashion as it entered an era of transformation and popularization. No matter what the prevailing style, his camera eye always found a way to dramatize its spirit as the fashion world's creative attention swayed variously from the "New Look" of liberated Paris to pragmatic American sportswear designed in New York, and from the anti-establishment fashion of London's Carnaby Street to sophisticated, tailored dresses and suits from Milan.

Avedon's passing comes less than two weeks after the death of Eddie Adams, famous for his gritty photojournalism. Adams really warranted a blog entry of his own, but as long as I'm honoring some of the photo world's dear departed, I should also mention Carl Mydans who passed away in August. Their inspiration and artistry will be missed.