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Woman in the mirror / by Richard Avedon ; essay by Anne Hollander.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublication details: New York : H.N. Abrams, 2005.Description: 246 pages ; 35 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 0810959623 (alk. paper)
Subject(s): LOC classification:
  • TR681.W6 A94 2005
Online resources: Review: "Among the significant projects of the last year of his life, Richard Avedon completed Woman in the Mirror, a book of his photographs of women from 1945 to 2004. Always transcending categorization, Avedon is considered one of the world's most influential fashion photographers and has been called the "poet of portraiture." He was interested in seeing how elemental facets of modern life and human existence were reflected in his work. And what could be more elemental than women, who have mesmerized artists across the centuries?" "Avedon created an unparalleled view of women in his time, a tumultuous half century of rapidly changing social mores, cultural ideals, popular styles, and high fashion. As an artist, he was deeply responsive to nuances of expression, gesture, and comportment. His photographs unfailingly opened a window to the interior lives of his subjects, who ranged from celebrities (Marilyn Monroe, Janis Joplin, Maria Callas, Isak Dinesen), to legendary models (Suzy Parker, Twiggy, Kate Moss), to women who simply drew his attention. Like the best of art and literature, Avedon's portraits evoke rich lives and complex experiences."--BOOK JACKET.
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Non-Fiction Davis (Central) Library Non-Fiction Non-Fiction 779.24 AVE 1 Available T00479764
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Among the significant projects of the last year of his life, Richard Avedon (1923-2004) completed a book of his photographs of women. Always transcending categorization--he was both a fashion photographer and known as a "poet of portraiture"--Avedon was interested in seeing how elemental facts of modern life and human existence were reflected in his work. And what could be more elemental than women, who have mesmerized artists across the centuries?Looking at his work in this way, Avedon was able to create an unparalleled view of women in his time, a tumultuous half century of rapidly changing social facts, cultural ideals, popular styles, and high fashion. As an artist, Avedon was deeply responsive to nuances of expression, gesture, and comportment, and his photographs unfailingly opened a window to the interior lives of his subjects. These ranged from celebrities (Marilyn Monroe), artists (Marguerite Duras, June Leaf), and high-fashion models (Suzy Parker, Dovima) to anonymous people that simply drew his attention. Like the best of art and literature, they evoke rich lives and complex experiences.An incisive essay by art historian Anne Hollander offers an overview of a half century of Avedon's images of women.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"Among the significant projects of the last year of his life, Richard Avedon completed Woman in the Mirror, a book of his photographs of women from 1945 to 2004. Always transcending categorization, Avedon is considered one of the world's most influential fashion photographers and has been called the "poet of portraiture." He was interested in seeing how elemental facets of modern life and human existence were reflected in his work. And what could be more elemental than women, who have mesmerized artists across the centuries?" "Avedon created an unparalleled view of women in his time, a tumultuous half century of rapidly changing social mores, cultural ideals, popular styles, and high fashion. As an artist, he was deeply responsive to nuances of expression, gesture, and comportment. His photographs unfailingly opened a window to the interior lives of his subjects, who ranged from celebrities (Marilyn Monroe, Janis Joplin, Maria Callas, Isak Dinesen), to legendary models (Suzy Parker, Twiggy, Kate Moss), to women who simply drew his attention. Like the best of art and literature, Avedon's portraits evoke rich lives and complex experiences."--BOOK JACKET.

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Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Avedon (1923-2004) has been called the "poet of portraiture," and for good reason. His distinctive fashion images have captured beautiful women in classical, life-expressing, and innovative poses. Published in conjunction with the 20th-anniversary edition of Avedon's In the American West: Richard Avedon, Photographs 1979-1984 and accompanying a nationally traveling exhibition, this book consists of photographs that "feed the eye" and leave a lasting impression on the viewer. The 125 portraits range from the elegant to the playful to the bizarre, with subjects including actresses, models, writers, designers, and "down-home" girls next door. Each photograph is technically a piece of art; tones, texture, value range, and composition are all there. In addition to the images, art historian and critic Anne Hollander (Feeding the Eye) offers an incisive essay elaborating on the people and influences that helped shape Avedon's vision. Recommended for public libraries, special libraries, and coffee-table connoisseurs.-Karen MacMurray, Cape Coral P.L., FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Wealthy or poor, young or old, famous or infamous, all of Avedon's subjects are photographed with the same stark, minimalist touch. This new collection spans five decades of the late photographer's work and focuses on the portraiture king's pictures of women. Beginning with a simple, joyous image of the Italian actress Anna Magnani in all her hearty, make-free glory and ending with a casual, breezy shot of mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, the loosely chronological succession of Avedon's primarily black-and-white shots demonstrates that, while the idea of photographing women is nothing new, the way the former Harper's Bazaar and Vogue contributor approached his subjects was. As explained in art historian Hollander's ending essay, Avedon was the first photographer to break down the barriers between high, "serious," photography and low, "non-serious," photography by applying his intimate, shadowy style to all of his subjects, regardless of their social background. It is a shift that can be seen in the stirring juxtapositions of toothless street performer Zazi with the model Dorian Leigh, and the full-bodied field marshal Gloria Gonzales with the petite Rose Kennedy. A treat for devotees and newcomers alike, the collection showcases both Avedon's fashion work and celebrity portraits, including such fantastic shots as a bejeweled and be-gowned Elton John in a mid-punch stance and a sexy Geoffrey Beene model posing with a skeleton. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

In an age saturated with digital imagery, it is a pleasure to view these carefully composed, and at times disturbing, images by Avedon. This is a book of the highest quality. An essay by Hollander follows the photographs; she traces the evolution of fashion photography and explores the connection that has always existed between painting and photography. She sees the influence of Degas, Matisse, Rembrandt, and others in Avedon's work. It is best that the essay follows the images because they reveal much about Avedon and this culture on their own. Avedon for all his fame as a fashion photographer sees the world through a lens darkly; even his earliest photographs have a cutting edge to them. In one, a model is holding the hand of a chimp that is cheek to cheek with his shirtless trainer. Between man and chimp, a clown is looking up at the regal model. A later and darker sequence involves a skeleton and a model. There is genius in this clash of the artificial and the commonplace and also in Avedon's portraits of the famous and not so famous. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. General readers; upper-division undergraduates through professionals. T. Sexton emeritus, University of Alaska, Anchorage

Booklist Review

For Richard Avedon, portraits were works of art that contemplate the human form and create windows into the soul. As a radical, then preeminent fashion photographer, he brilliantly captured the complex interplay between his subject's spirit and the fantasy clothes engender. Two years before his sudden death in October 2004, Avedon sorted through 60 years' worth of photographs to select 125 images, some never before published, for this lavish and breathtaking volume. Critic Hollander provides astute commentary, explicating Avedon's passion for photographing women and his profound inquiry into the symbiotic powers of seeing and being seen. Presented in chronological order, Avedon's electrifying photographs also tell the story of how twentieth-century fashion blossomed in sync with film and rock and roll. The fashion models--including such era-defining divas as the classically beautiful Suzy Parker, the otherworldly Penelope Tree, leggy Veruschka, and compact Kate Moss--are no mannequins but, rather, actors collaborating joyfully with the camera. Avedon also photographed such women artists as Katharine Hepburn, Marianne Moore, Tina Turner, and Patti Smith as well as working-class women, establishing an empathic and mutually empowering rapport with each and adding immeasurably to the world's beauty and humanity. --Donna Seaman Copyright 2005 Booklist

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