This major monograph stands as an important rediscovery of a small but central body of work in the career of one of the world’s best known and beloved photographers. The Richard Avedon images presented here, many for the first time, were made in Paris for Harper’s Bazaar during the 1950s. What is particularly special about this presentation is that the images are being reproduced to the exact scale of the engraver’s prints made for Avedon by the master printer Andre Gremola, and are uncropped, on their original mounts, with all of the artist’s notations on both front and back. Thus, they provide a remarkable portrait of the working methods of one of the most influential fashion photographers in history. This over sized book, measuring 12 x 15 inches, is being printed without compromise with tritone plates throughout, and will be a stunning object in its own right. With this body of work, which includes the photographer’s iconographic Dovima with Elephants, Cirque d’Hiver, 1955, Avedon broke radical new ground in the history of photography. He documented the moment in which postwar France was striving through fashion to reclaim its cultural eminence. Judith Thurman, fashion writer for The New Yorker contributes the book’s introduction.
Limited quantities available.
