Sometimes I think all my pictures are just pictures of me. My concern is...the human predicament; only what I consider the human predicament may simply be my own.
Richard AvedonMy photographs don't go below the surface. They don't go below anything. They're readings of the surface. I have great faith in surfaces. A good one is full of clues. But whenever I become absorbed in the beauty of a face, in the excellence of a single feature, I feel I've lost what's really there been seduced by someone else's standard of beauty or by the sitter's own idea of the best in him. That's not usually the best. So each sitting becomes a contest.
Richard AvedonCamera lies all the time. Itโs all it does is lie, because when you choose this moment instead of this moment, when youโฆ the moment youโve made a choice, youโre lying about something larger. Lying is an ugly word. I donโt mean lying. But any artist picks and chooses what they want to paint or write about or say. Photographers are the same.
Richard AvedonHow many pictures have you torn up because you hate them? What ends up in your scrapbook? The pictures where you look like a good guy and a good family man, and the children look adorable - and they're screaming the next minute. I've never seen a family album of screaming people.
Richard Avedon