The American West

The American West is a book that was published in 1985. The photographs were all portraits taken in the United States and the subjects are very different from his previous work. In older work he photographed famous people but in this book, his subjects are all workers. He wanted to photograph people ‘who work at hard, uncelebrated jobs . . . who are often ignored or overlooked’ (Wilson 2003).

I find these portraits amazing because Avedon captures his subjects emotions, their personality, real, exposed; and the simplicity of the background enhances the beauty of that and of who they are.  

I saw this picture in the exhibit I went on Avedon and fell in love with it. 

It is my favorite photograph of Avedon.

This is one of Avedon’s most famous shots.