I'm reading Laura Wilson's "Avedon at work: in the American West"--I don't have a copy of "In the American West" by the way--and I'm wondering about one of the most famous photos from the book...what is the relevance of the bee man photos to the project. Wilson's book doesn't seem to provide the answer...
--Darin
Avedon's thinking about The American West project was that every image in the exhibit and book was really a portrait of himself. Each image is a fragment of Avedon.
Avedon had envisioned this 'Bee-man' image while working on his multi-year West project. Even though the image wasn't 'found,' it was inspired by the West project. To Avedon the 'Bee-man' represented a "Lazarus" iconic image. Even though Avedon was a 'cultural Jew' he always claimed he was a non-believer. So having a "Lazarus" figure within this collection helps reveal a bit of Avedon's psychology.
This summer I took a grad school level psychology course called "Madness, Genius and Creativity." For this class I wrote my final paper on Richard Avedon. I read Wilson's book. The "Lazarus" story is revealed in the American Master's video "Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light." The video is worth getting, or at least watching if you are an Avedon fan.
Avedon was an extremely complicated personality. He claimed later in his life that he was not afraid of death. He was boastful of this. The 'Bee-man' Lazarus feature seems to cry out of a chance at life after death for Avedon. This is my opinion.
good question!
a lot of critics of this work would ask what have ANY of the portraits in the book got to do with the "American West"...
Wow!Originally Posted by Walter Calahan
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
The question of just who is the subject of a portrait is an issue with lots of work; whether its the sitter or the shooter who's statement is coming through. As it is in conversation, only one person should be talking at a given time, and it often seems to me that the photographer who's busy following an agenda is precluding the possiblity of reaching something inside the sitter.
Once a photographer gets famous, other things start to happen, and the viewers grow to expect and relish the stylistic preferences of that artist. I like and admire the work of the Leibowitz's and Avedon's, but its not about getting out of the way and letting the subject have the moment with those photographers. I'm not making a qualitative judgment here, just pointing out a distinction. This is me being opinionated.
John Youngblood
www.jyoungblood.com
Avedon said the idea for the picture came to him in a dream -- a man with bees all over his body.
He was working on the American West series at the time.
Avedon advertised in beekeeping journals to find a subject willing to pose in this manner.
He finally settled on Ronald Fischer, who lived in Chicago (if memory serves).
Avedon had Fischer travel to Davis, California and they spent two days shooting this portrait.
There are two pictures of this in one Avedon shows and stoic budishm and in other the suffer of a crhistian. i read this in one of last Avedonīs book i think in a Denmark major retrospective.
>>Avedon's thinking about The American West project was that every image in the exhibit and book was really a portrait of himself. Each image is a fragment of Avedon.<<
I'll go with that, Walter, but that slightly sidesteps the question. It may, like the other portraits in "American West" be a portrait of himself but, unlike all the other portraits in the book it isn't about a real inhabitant of the West (California being its own designation, I believe), nor does the individual pictured have anything to do with bees, beekeeping, or the West. He just answered an ad.
When I first saw the image way back when I assumed the guy was a beekeeper. But he is not.
Imagine if the snake guy was just a guy who answered an ad that he was not afraid of snakes--and they just gave him a dead snake when he got there. What if the miners weren't really miners?
The more I think about it the more this photo seems very wrong.
--Darin
I always saw Avedon's work as contrived, even downright corny, stereotypical 60's. Claiming to reveal people's inner soul when he was simply wearing them down until they looked haggard; goofy snake and bee pictures. He should have stayed in NYC rather than attempting his fashion runway nonsense on subject matter he really didn't have any sympathy for whatsoever. I'm with Kertesz with this one - he was a zero.
Never understood what anyone saw in his work other than the ultimate put-on.
Umm I doubt he thought he was showing anyone's inner soul but his own, he was a manipulator.
And by having a giant reputation and the resources to do things without compromise, he had access to the leading figures of the day. And in the case of the West book, some of the lowest. So even if you don't like his style, he is important because he alone captured the most prominent leaders of the 50-80s. Nobody else has come close.
All you have to do is to look at Leibowitz's attempts with all the politicians and celebs that are so over contrived and smutzy, compared to Avedon's lean minimalism. He just mops the floor with her and all the other "celeb" photographers that are trying so hard.
But I agree, the beekeeper is a great picture but it seems like an afterthought in that book.
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