2 Avedon Quotes

I've shared these with most of my photo classes whenever Avedon's portraits come up in a slide show:

I've worked out of a series of no's. No to exquisite light, no to apparent compositions, no to the seduction of poses or narrative. And all these no's force me to the "yes." I have a white background. I have the person I'm interested in and the thing that happens between us.

- Richard Avedon, 1994

And if a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it's as though I've neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up. I know that the accident of my being a photographer has made my life possible.

- Richard Avedon, 1970