American Masters Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light (1985– ) Online

Here it is, one of the best documentaries ever made on a photographer. Richard Avedon was one of the great geniuses of 20th century photography, famous for his fashion photography done for the likes of Vogue, Versace, and Armani, and equally famous for his black and white portraits of American people, both famous and unknown. This movie features ample footage of Avedon, a great storyteller and conversationalist, describing his life and methods. Many guests tell interesting stories of the joys and tribulations of working with him. It is difficult not to be impressed by Avedon's endless photographic inventiveness and personal charm. For a great view of the creative process, and on the struggle to make a living while making art, then check this out.

Fashion photog Dick Avedon in his long career has taken some striking images. He revolutionized fashion photography by getting statuesque models to move in the 50s and his 70's portraits of major and marginal figures in their own way speak to the period as Sander's pre Reich photographs of Germany did. Given the tumult of the times his minimalist portraits of the powerful such as Reagan, Kissinger and Casper Weinberger spoke volumes. But it is in fashion Avedon mostly made his mark and this genre of the contrived with commercial intent does not lend itself to creativity the way photojournalism does for pure aesthetic.

Accomplished as he is Avedon pales in comparison to the output of far more gifted photographers that have been passed over on American Masters. Diane Arbus immediately comes to mind since she abandoned the falsity of fashion photography and its constraints to greater creativity and accomplishment for the world of the streets.

One sometimes gets the feeling that American Masters has a bias towards trendy over substance, selecting subjects for the crowd they run with more than the abilities they have. I won't argue that Avedon does not deserve an American Masters treatment only that there are so many more deserving ahead of him.