Like many of us, director Ron Howard had come across Richard Avedon’s photos all his life, without realizing it. There’s the iconic portrait of Marilyn Monroe looking off-camera, deflated. Charlie Chaplin mimicking devil horns. Brooke Shields in a provocative Calvin Klein ad. As Howard dug through the archives and interviewed subjects for his new documentary on the renowned American photographer, the bolt of recognition hit him more than once.
“It was stunning,” Howard said of going into the vault and seeing the range of subjects who had sat for him. Speaking via video call, trademark cap on, warm wood paneling all around, the actor and director of the Oscar-winning film, “A Beautiful Mind,” took inspiration from Avedon: “He’s braver,” he said, comparing himself. “He took more leaps, took more risks.”
In the second half of the 20th century, everyone who was anyone in American culture – from Hollywood icons to presidents and revolutionaries – had their portrait taken by Avedon. Against an often stark white backdrop, he expertly peeled away the veneer to reveal their truest selves.
Howard’s documentary — simply titled, “Avedon” — which premiered at Cannes Film Festival over the weekend, draws on both archive footage of the photographer (who died in 2004, aged 81), and revealing interviews with those closest to him. His son, John, recalls an intensively driven father who, though loving, was often away from home. While top art dealer Larry Gagosian remembers with a chuckle going to Avedon’s home for brunch and being served hardboiled eggs and champagne. “I thought it was super elegant,” he said.
We asked Howard to pick his four favorite Avedon photos. “That’s a challenge,” he said, of narrowing it down from many thousands of images. A challenge the director was game for.
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