But then as Avedon said the real beauty is in the imperfection.
"Youth never moves me. I seldom see anything very beautiful in a young face. I do, though - - in the downward curve of Maugham’s lips, in Isak Dinesen’s hands. So much has been written there, there is so much to be read, if one could only read. I feel most of the people in my book, Observations, are earthly saints. Because they are obsessed, obsessed with work of one sort or another. To dance, to be beautiful, tell stories, solve riddles, perform in the street. Zavattini’s mouth and Escudero’s eyes, the smile of Marie-Louise Bousquet: they are sermons on bravado." - Richard Avedon
And this:
"There’s always been a separation between fashion and what I call my “deeper” work. Fashion is where I make my living. I’m not knocking it. It’s a pleasure to make a living that way. It’s pleasure, and then there’s the deeper pleasure of doing my portraits. It’s not important what I consider myself to be, but I consider myself to be a portrait photographer." - Richard Avedon
And there are those that have a search for something more than beauty like Avedon, Arnold Newman, Eisenstaedt, Weston, Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and Bresson to name a just a few.
Or, to paraphrase the legendary philosopher Peter Hurley, "I want to make pictures people want to see." That's pretty much it. Beauty, flattery, documentary, story-telling, hard truth, there's room for all of it.
If you like Chuck's work check out the work of Jacques Henri Lartigue. He's one of my all time favorite photographers.
He was lucky to be born into a wealthy family and have parents that indulged him in his interest in photography. He photographed constantly during the first half of the 20th century and created a wonderful record of not only his family, but also of French society.
This has been an interesting, thought provoking discussion. Thanks to Laszlo for starting the thread.
GeorgieGirl wrote:
I don't agree that every picture tells a story about a person. It's the captions and dialog and information and history that create a fabric and aid to try to tell a story of who the person actually is.
I'm agreeing - my mental picture was enriched by the dialog and like adjusting micro contrast, brought out the features you described. Otehrwise I would not have guessed weightlifter or a surly attitude. I see confidence and no nonsense.
Thanks for the dialog!
I think what the photographer sees in that shot is influenced by what he knows about the person. I just see an ordinary looking guy with a rather solemn expression, although it does look like he might be about to crack a small smile.
