Customer Reviews

Comments by Michael Calum Jacques author of '1st Century Radical'. - By: Michael Calum Jacques, 25 Nov 2008
This fascinating book could be described as a collaborative effort & can best be enjoyed for what it is when we know something of the variety of characters contained within its pages.

Richard Avedon was bornin to a Jewish-Russian familyin New York on May 15, 1944 He commenced his career as a photographerin 1942, taking identification pictures of the seamen. In 1946, Avedon established his own studio & producing material for a list of illustrious publications which includied Vogue magazine. Soon thereafter he became the main photographer for Harper's Bazaar. A main characteristic of Avedon's style of work was that his photographs conveyed three dimensional models with vivacity; laughing, smiling, or, at other times, being `snapped' whilst involvedin a particular activity.

Avedon later broadened his repertoire & even photographed patients of sanitariums, as well as more `mainstream' subjects such as protesters of the Vietnam War & the demise of the Berlin Wall. Avedon also produced a couple of distinctive - & now famous -shots of The Beatles as well as the portrait material contained within the The White Album (1968).

Sadly, Richard Avedon died while shooting an assignment for The New Yorkerin San Antonio, Texas, on October 1, 2004. Even then, at this advanced stage of his career, he was still a formidable, original, creative force, undertaking & allocating time for new, challenging projects of divers sorts.

So, with such a pedigree - & we have not mentioned Avedon's fascination with other groups & `types' within society, nor details of his connection with other elements of the press or publishing industry here - it is easy to understand why any volume, collaborative or otherwise, from such a fascinating, iconic photographer (and this reviewer is not given to using such terms lightly) .

This volume can be recommended for a number of reasons. It features work produced by Avedonin the life & works of members of the performing arts; to be more precise, John Lahr is the son of actor Bert Lahr, but is well accredtitedin his own right. He is now the Senior Drama Critic of The New Yorker and,in 2002, became the first drama critic ever to win a Tony Award. Mike Nichols has won an American Emmy Award, an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, & also a Tony Award (as stage & film director, writer, & producer). André Gregory is both an American director & actor. He appeared as the title characterin My Dinner with Andre. Mitsuko Uchida is a classical pianist, perhaps best, but by no means exclusively, known for her performances of Mozart (especially the Sonatain C), Beethoven, & Schubert. Her father has been the Japanese ambassador to Austria. Twyla Tharp is an American dancer & choreographer & is the author of `Push Comes to Shove' (1999) & `The Creative Habit: Learn It & Use It for Life' (2006).

As a person who engages with images as types of sources, reflecting stages & epochs of history, this reviewer enjoyed this volume & can warmly recommend it even though the `images' are more biographicalin some ways. It will not be to everyone's taste, but it undoubtedly offers a fascinating & quite compendious view on the subjects outlined & captured. Each reader & viewer will most probably take something valuable to their own `self', image & portrait.

Michael Calum Jacques (author of 1st Century Radical: the shadowy origins of the man who became known as Jesus Christ)