In the American West: 40 Years of Richard Avedon’s Iconic Vision
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of In the American West, the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, in collaboration with the Richard Avedon Foundation, presents a major exhibition dedicated to this groundbreaking photographic series.
Between 1979 and 1984, commissioned by the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, Richard Avedon journeyed throughout the western United States, creating over 1,000 portraits of the region’s inhabitants. For five years, he encountered miners, cowboys, drifters, entertainers, laborers, and others, photographing them with his signature approach—isolated against stark white backdrops that amplified every nuance of expression, gesture, and physical detail. The resulting images offered a raw and unfiltered look at a segment of America often mythologized, standing in contrast to romanticized visions of the West.
The series, comprising 103 final portraits, represents a milestone in Avedon’s career and remains one of the most influential projects in the history of portrait photography.
Now, for the first time in Europe, the Fondation HCB is exhibiting the complete body of work featured in the original 1985 publication. In addition to the full set of prints, the exhibition traces the creative process behind the project: a selection of working materials—engraver’s prints, annotated test prints, contact sheets, preparatory Polaroids, and never-before-seen correspondence—provides insight into Avedon’s methods and the relationship he formed with his subjects.
Coinciding with the exhibition, the publisher Abrams is reissuing the long out-of-print book In the American West, making this landmark volume accessible to a new generation.
The Exhibition Curator is Clément Chéroux, Director, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson.
About the Author
Born in New York City to a family of Russian Jewish origin, Richard Avedon (1923–2004) took up photography as a child, joining the YMHA Camera Club at age twelve. His early passion was honed during World War II, when he served as Photographer’s Mate Second Class in the Merchant Marine. Using a Rolleiflex given to him by his father, Avedon created identification portraits of fellow sailors, sharpening his technical skill and refining the stark, intimate style that would later define his work.
Following his military service, Avedon studied under art director Alexey Brodovitch at the New School for Social Research and began working as a freelance fashion photographer. By the mid-1940s, he had established his own studio and quickly became the leading photographer for Harper’s Bazaar.
From the outset, Avedon was drawn to portraiture. His editorial images for Harper’s Bazaar, Life, Theater Arts, and Look focused on capturing the individuality of his subjects, rarely idealized and often shown with an unflinching clarity.
Over the decades, Avedon continued to define the visual language of fashion and portraiture. After leaving Harper’s Bazaar in 1965, he forged a new creative path with Vogue, Egoiste, and later The New Yorker. His commercial work for brands like Calvin Klein, Versace, and Revlon was as distinctive and influential as his editorial photography.
Simultaneously, Avedon pursued long-term documentary projects exploring cultural and political themes. In the 1960s, he photographed the Civil Rights Movement; during the Vietnam War era, he portrayed students, activists, and victims of the conflict. In 1976, The Family, a project for Rolling Stone, depicted prominent figures in American political life during the Bicentennial.
In the American West, completed in 1985, is widely regarded as Avedon’s masterwork. Using a large-format camera and a minimalist setting, he captured the working-class individuals of the West—coal miners, waitresses, convicts—with arresting detail. Though presented with documentary precision, Avedon insisted his images were never neutral: “The moment an emotion or a fact is transformed into a photograph,” he wrote, “it is no longer a fact but an opinion.”
Richard Avedon: In the American West
through October 12, 2025
Henri Cartier Bresson Foundation – Paris – France
