Aronson masterfully trace Avedon's life from his birth to his death, in 2004, at the age of eighty-one, while at work in Texas for The New Yorker (whose first-ever staff photographer he had become in 1992). In Avedon: Something Personal-equal parts memoir, biography, and oral history, including an intimate portrait of the legendary Avedon studio-Stevens and co-author Steven M. No one knew him better than did Norma Stevens, who for thirty years was his business partner and closest confidant. But the Richard Avedon the world saw was perhaps his greatest creation: he relentlessly curated his reputation and controlled his image, managing to remain, for all his exposure, among the most private of celebrities. He possessed a mystique so unique it was itself a kind of genius-everyone fell under his spell. He also went on the road to find and photograph remarkable uncelebrated faces, with an eye toward constructing a grand composite picture of America.Īvedon dazzled even his most dazzling subjects. Over six richly productive decades, he created landmark advertising campaigns, iconic fashion photographs (as the star photographer for Harper's Bazaar and then Vogue), groundbreaking books, and unforgettable portraits of everyone who was anyone.

Richard Avedon was arguably the world's most famous photographer-as artistically influential as he was commercially successful.

Avedon something personal