At one point in AVedonRon Howard’s documentary about the famous photographer Richard Avedon, Avedon allegedly captured much of the 20th century. It’s a bold assertion, but Howard’s film, which distills an incredible archive provided by the Richard Avedon Foundation, makes a compelling case throughout its 100-minute running time.
After becoming the leading photographer at the heyday of American fashion magazines, Avedon was the inspiration behind Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire’s musical comedies. Funny face. His notoriety has led him to capture the most famous faces in entertainment, politics, society and culture, from James Baldwin and Allen Ginsberg to Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin to Reagan’s Factory and Warhol. Between his artistic and commercial work (you have Avedon to thank for the Calvin Klein campaign organized by Brooke Shields), he documented the ruins of postwar Paris, the architects of the American civil rights movement and the victims of napalm in the Vietnam War.
All of this, plus the photographer’s personal life and more, is explored in this book AvedonWhich will receive a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17.
Howard is no stranger to Beaudocs. With a focus on prolific creators, he directed docs about Luciano Pavarotti (2019’s Pavarotti) and Jim Henson (2024 Jim Henson is the idea man), the latter of which also bowed at Cannes. “We all appreciate their work, but perhaps we don’t fully realize what it entails,” he says of his choice of subjects.
Before landing in France, Howard spoke to… THR About assets AvedonThe importance of composition in images and how Avedon used his work to satisfy his curiosity.
When did you close the documentary?
Just a few weeks ago.
amazing.
But it’s been years of work on this, going back to our first visits to the archive. What I love so much about this period of my life, moving creatively back and forth between written fiction and documentaries, is that the tone and pace of documentaries is so different. It is always with you, seeping out, for a long period of time. This kind of sprint is rare. Sometimes, in your last interview, there are not only a few quotes that you can add to the film, but they give you a real rethink, and deepen your understanding of the topic. I really love the opportunity to explore these other worlds, and a lot of times for me, it’s been an autobiographical solo work.
Why are you drawn to biographical films?
The only real piece I did was when he followed us [chef] José Andres around. And when we made the movie Fire of Heaven[2022[2022’sWe feed people]we had no idea exactly where this was going to go. But it was really about the opportunities that came my way. I am very interested in people who achieve artistic excellence. I’m interested in the life and the spark, as well as the dues they had to pay and the cost of other aspects of their lives. It all goes into a soup that ends up becoming a highly prolific career.
How did Richard Avedon come on your radar as a documentary subject?
Sarah Bernstein, Head of Documentary Films at [Howard’s production company] Imagine, I learned that the Avedon family and the foundation might have been open to allowing the filmmaker access to the archive and being supportive of outreach efforts to conduct interviews. So I went to the archives, and it happened to coincide with that [2023 retrospective] In New York. I had nothing but respect for the name Richard Avedon and the handful of images I could attribute to him, but no sense of the depth and scope of what he did. You can open every drawer and your head will explode – who filmed it and under what circumstances. There were also these tapes he made of the sessions, which weren’t really suitable for film, but I saw that he wasn’t just taking pictures of people as symbols or reflections. He was actually mining his inner selves and finding ways to let that inform the image, even if it was commercial or his work in glossy magazines or advertisements. That was reason enough for me to talk about the making of the film.
And so I had no idea how committed he was to social observation, civil rights, and exploring lesser-known corners of photojournalism. People weren’t always supportive. The magazine staff didn’t want him to run away and cover Vietnam. They weren’t excited about it. This is not what they wanted him to do. I’m sure his manager didn’t like that. Critics didn’t always embrace that, and he received some very harsh criticism that really stunned him. Yet he persevered and was determined to fully apply his creativity in the ways he understood best. For me, this just became an object lesson in creative endurance. He uses his status and prestige to say something else and do more. I found that incredibly inspiring.
I ended up being emotionally attached to Avedon. I’m nothing like him, except I love work and have a lot of energy around it. It was funny, he reminded me of two of my mentors from his time who shared similar qualities. That acerbic intelligence, designed to be at the center of things.
Like who?
Director of all episodes Happy daysa man named Jerry Paris. Wherever Jerry went, he was the master of the ring. He used to throw these great parties at his house. These weren’t Hollywood parties, they were swimming and playing basketball, and it wasn’t that it was fancy or outrageous. But he was funny at all times, and he loved people. Avedon would go up and photograph people in the street. If Jerry and I were in a city for some promotional tour, he would go and talk to people in restaurants.
One person in the doc points out that you can see the arc of the 20th century in Avedon’s work.
He was prolific [and] In demand, this is a great combination, especially in that era where magazines were social media. That was a lot of conversation around the water cooler. Television and magazines were more important in his time than cinema. He was tireless. Although he destroyed thousands of negatives, he only covered a large area of ground. I relate to this too: he used his work to satisfy his curiosity, to explore the world, not just to eat at great restaurants or stay in nice hotels.
In the making process AvedonDid you select his favorite profile picture?
There are many who don’t even appear in the movie. I really wanted the movie to be a movie. I really wanted the film to work the way film works, as a journey. So, I had to make some decisions. But there’s something about his upright, human image, like a young Lou Alcindor, who later became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, holding a basketball when he was 18 or 19 on a court in New York. I grew up loving John Ford films, and it turns out my favorite image of John Ford as an old man with an eyepatch is an Avedon one and I didn’t even know it.
And you, yourself, did not have any disagreements with Avedon?
You know, I wasn’t going to appear in a fashion magazine [world]I wasn’t a controversial, socially awkward or surprising topic. So I’m not surprised, but I wish I was there.
Not sure if you’ve seen this, but Avedon is getting a shout outthe The devil wears prada 2.
I saw that! I really enjoyed this movie.
It is a testament to his survival in fashion, and the sentiment expressed in this film is that his work and method cannot be replicated today.
It’s hard to know. That’s why we use this quote at the end [of the doc] He says, “I don’t even think there will be photographers later,” and those photos, wherever they are, will be deleted. But then, on the contrary, he turns around and says the thing I believe in, which is for humans to feel a kind of depth or connection to the image that they need to pass through the artist’s filter to give them a soul and an intention. In general, whatever tools are used to create images or take photos, I feel that authorship will be something we still value.
