# ‘I’m looking for faces which surprise me’: how Richard Avedon photographed the soul of his subjects

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/im-looking-for-faces-which-surprise-me-how-richard-avedon-photographed-the-soul-of-his-subjects/
- Published: 2026-11-10T10:00:34+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-10T11:04:32+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/nov/10/richard-avedon-photography-netflix-documentary
- Topics: Americas, Culture, Entertainment, TV, World

## Key points

- Ron Howard’s documentary explores Richard Avedon’s six-decade career.
- Avedon used stark white backgrounds to focus attention on faces.
- His portraits often emerged from conversation and unexpected moments.

## Summary

Ron Howard’s new documentary, *Avedon*, revisits the six-decade career of Richard Avedon, whose fashion and portrait photography brought movement to magazine images and sought to reveal the character of his subjects. It matters because the film shows how his distinctive methods shaped modern photography, from theatrical fashion shoots to stark portraits against white backgrounds.

Avedon’s wartime work taking more than 100,000 identification photographs taught him to notice the individuality of faces. Guided by art director Alexey Brodovitch’s challenge to “astonish me”, he treated sitters as collaborators and used conversation and unexpected moments to draw out unguarded expressions. The documentary includes photographer Sebastian Kim’s account of Avedon capturing the Dalai Lama laughing after accidentally hitting his head on a light.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.