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Thread: Avedon

  1. #61
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Avedon

    Ricky Nelson? My wife was just listening to some of that yesterday. She wasn't even born yet when that came out. Didn't his meteoric career end in the same plane crash as Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly?
    Roberto - I find Avedon's West project just a minor blip on the radar long ago. A couple of memorable images; but I didn't even bother buying the book, and have no regrets in that respect. There are hundreds of other books I'd rather have. I think there's a distinct myopia factor when this is the kind of thing still so repetitiously and monotonously fed to the public that they're unaware of just how bigger things really are than a handful of stunt men doing clever tricks in the 60's. Meteoric like Ricky Nelson, but hardly the only gig in town (Buddy Holly would be a better comparison, more jarring than smooth like Ricky). Even back then there were worthier alternatives. Time for some balance. But museums and similar venues seem addicted to routinely known loud noises as somehow necessary to attract paying attendees.
    Last edited by Drew Wiley; 26-Oct-2020 at 11:59.

  2. #62
    Pieter's Avatar
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    Re: Avedon


  3. #63

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    Re: Avedon

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    Ricky Nelson? My wife was just listening to some of that yesterday. She wasn't even born yet when that came out. Didn't his meteoric career end in the same plane crash as Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly?
    Roberto - I find Avedon's West project just a minor blip on the radar long ago. A couple of memorable images; but I didn't even bother buying the book, and have no regrets in that respect. There are hundreds of other books I'd rather have. I think there's a distinct myopia factor when this is the kind of thing still so repetitiously and monotonously fed to the public that they're unaware of just how bigger things really are than a handful of stunt men doing clever tricks in the 60's. Meteoric like Ricky Nelson, but hardly the only gig in town (Buddy Holly would be a better comparison, more jarring than smooth like Ricky). Even back then there were worthier alternatives. Time for some balance. But museums and similar venues seem addicted to routinely known loud noises as somehow necessary to attract paying attendees.
    No, he was not with Buddy Holly. Nor was he with any other singer in plane crashes. He did it all by himself.

  4. #64
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Avedon

    Did what by himself? Made some noise? That's due to his extant big media microphone, frumpy society connections, and huge personal budget, not necessarily anything brilliant in itself. I didn't use the term "noise" without a reason. He had all kinds of assistants and props, a team or crew, brought in people as models with paraphernalia wholly unrelated to the given locality, like that pretentious shot of the beekeeper playing a flute.... hardly did it all by himself.
    He would have needed an automated film-holder conveyor belt if that had been the case, just like every other machine-gunner who can't reliably anticipate the "decisive moment" - probably too nervous or neurotic, I dunno; maybe just had too much money, so wasted it on a lot of redundant extra shots. Wish there were more of those kinds today - it would boost sheet film sales and maybe lower the price.

  5. #65
    Pieter's Avatar
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    Re: Avedon

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    Did what by himself? Made some noise? That's due to his extant big media microphone, frumpy society connections, and huge personal budget, not necessarily anything brilliant in itself. I didn't use the term "noise" without a reason. He had all kinds of assistants and props, a team or crew, brought in people as models with paraphernalia wholly unrelated to the given locality, like that pretentious shot of the beekeeper playing a flute.... hardly did it all by himself.
    He would have needed an automated film-holder conveyor belt if that had been the case, just like every other machine-gunner who can't reliably anticipate the "decisive moment" - probably too nervous or neurotic, I dunno; maybe just had too much money, so wasted it on a lot of redundant extra shots. Wish there were more of those kinds today - it would boost sheet film sales and maybe lower the price.
    Beekeeper playing a flute? For someone with such strong negative opinions of his work, you most certainly have an in-depth knowledge of Avedon's oeuvre. I have never seen that one.

  6. #66
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Avedon

    Just look in the darn book. It's an infamous over-the-top shot pretty much defeating the notion that he was trying to be objective, and as utterly contrived corny as his Natasha and the Snake poster. I'm not really worked up about any of this. But turning a sacred cow into a hamburger is always an effective way of keeping an interesting conversation going, and appraising how we differently look at such things. No right or wrong here. I have my distinct reasons, and the right to state them; others have their own take on things and an equal right to express that. But this case particularly interests me because it involves someone who was very much a brassy big city interloper or outsider doing things in exactly that manner, versus how someone with actual personal experience and their own deep geographic context might look at things from the inside, sympathetically. Did Avedon even know how to drive? - sincere question.

  7. #67
    Pieter's Avatar
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    Re: Avedon

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    Just look in the darn book. It's an infamous over-the-top shot pretty much defeating the notion that he was trying to be objective, and as utterly contrived corny as his Natasha and the Snake poster. I'm not really worked up about any of this. But turning a sacred cow into a hamburger is always an effective way of keeping an interesting conversation going, and appraising how we differently look at such things. No right or wrong here. I have my distinct reasons, and the right to state them; others have their own take on things and an equal right to express that. But this case particularly interests me because it involves someone who was very much a brassy big city interloper or outsider doing things in exactly that manner, versus how someone with actual personal experience and their own deep geographic context might look at things from the inside, sympathetically. Did Avedon even know how to drive? - sincere question.
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    Flute?

  8. #68
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Avedon

    There's a different one from the same shoot. But I am relying on memory. I haven't seen a copy of the book itself for a long time. Either way, it's all about shock value, using a deliberately imported individual.

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