‘Avedon’ Trailer Drops on Netflix

Netflix has released a trailer for an upcoming documentary about the legendary photographer Richard Avedon.

Simply titled Avedon, the film is directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard and explores the life and legacy of one of the most influential photographers of all time.

“Drawing on unprecedented access to Richard Avedon’s personal archives — never-before-seen stills, intimate behind-the-lens footage, and new interviews with his closest collaborators — the film explores how his vision both reflected and reshaped the visual language of the 20th century. It reveals why even the most iconic image is only half the story,” Netflix says.

The Hollywood Reporter (THR) notes that Avedon had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, where it was met with rave reviews. Netflix acquired the rights over the summer.

“I’ve always been drawn to stories that help us better understand remarkable people,” Howard tells THR. “Richard Avedon was an artist whose work continues to resonate not only because of the extraordinary images he created, but because of the humanity and curiosity behind them.”

According to Harper’s Bazaar, Avedon will tell the photographer’s story from beginning to end, looking at how he was able to work with so many big names and get them to drop their guard for his camera.

It will also touch upon his interest in politics. Despite being a well-known fashion photographer who worked for Vogue, Life, Look, and Harper’s Bazaar, he would shoot socially conscious images of the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the working class.

Earlier this year, PetaPixel reported that between 1979 and 1984, Avedon traveled to 21 states with an 8 x 10 large-format Deardorff camera and a white backdrop to capture the portraits of working-class America.

Avedon shot more than 1,000 portraits for the project. Meeting people with the help of his assistant Laura Wilson, he selected a wide variety of people to photograph, representing a range of professions and rural pastimes, and depicting often-overlooked subjects from drifters to coal miners.