American photographer Richard Avedon was best known for his work in the fashion world and for his minimalist portraits. He worked first as a photographer for the Merchant Marines, taking identification photos. He then moved to fashion, shooting for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, demanding that his models convey emotion and movement, a departure from the norm of motionless fashion photography at the time.

Perhaps the most famous portrait photographer of all time, the late Richard Avedon’s body of work is the quintessence of what a unique artist is all bout. Right after his death, The New York Times published an obituary that says “his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America’s image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century”.

Audrey Hepburn, New York, 1967

Martin Luther King, Jr. with Father and Son, 1963

Napalm victim, Saigon, South Vietnam, 1971

Dovima with elephants, 1955

Isak Dinesen, writer, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1958

Marella Agnelli, New York, 1953

Volpi Ball #6, Venice, Italy, 1991