The exhibition In the American West at the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson is a lovely opportunity to dedicate this edition to Richard Avedon, in which you will find three major texts published in PHOTO in 1977, 1979, and 1986.
I have 3 very beautiful memories of Avedon.
The first: it was thanks to him that I met Roland Barthes.
“I would like to be published in PHOTO but I want my images to be accompanied by a text by Barthes.”
So I went to see the master in his lair: the bar of the Port Royal hotel.
Amused and above all passionate about photography, he accepted.
3 times he wrote about Avedon, but it is the first text that I prefer.
The 4th time, I received a very short note: “No, I will not write about his book. This one is only dedicated to women and you know women are not my strong point.”
I remember 5 or 6 meetings in the bar where I listened to him in amazement.
I made someone happy at that time: Hervé Guibert who worked for the magazine “20 ANS” in the Filipacchi group like PHOTO on the Champs Elysées; Hervé one day confided to me his dream of knowing Barthes.
I organized the meeting. They became very close.
The second memory is an annual awards evening at ICP, the International Center of Photography in New York.
Bourdin received the fashion prize, he couldn’t refuse it, it was awarded to him via L’Égoiste, the fabulous magazine of Nicole Wisniak.
I had plotted for Bourdin to obtain this distinction.
Knowing this from Nicole, Avedon had taken a table in honor of Bourdin where I found myself with him, Nicole, Bourdin, Samuel his son and Norma Stevens his legendary studio director.
It was Annie Leibovitz who gave the speech about Guy that evening.
The last memory concerns Match, Roger Thérond (Editor in Chief) and Avedon.
One day in the 1990s, the New Yorker published a fabulous 24-page fashion portfolio with as only models: a top model and a skeleton;
I was living in New York at the time. Roger ordered: “We need these images!”
Roger, there is a cold between Avedon and Match. The contract was not completely respected when it was last published!
It’s nothing. Do not worry ! Dick forgot!
Dick had not forgotten.
“Roger likes my images and wants them for Match, I’m delighted!
So here it is: if Match republishes the 24 pages, it’s free. If Match publishes 16 pages: that’s $10,000. If Match publishes 12 pages: that’s $20,000. If Match publishes 8 pages it’s $40,000…”
Match could only publish 8 pages, Avedon knew that.
Match paid $40,000; Avedon was ecstatic.
Jean-Jacques Naudet
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Richard Avedon‘s iconic work, In the American West, the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, in collaboration with the Richard Avedon Foundation, presents an exceptional exhibition entirely dedicated to this emblematic series.
Between 1979 and 1984, at the request of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, Richard Avedon traveled the American West and photographed over 1,000 of its inhabitants. For five years, Avedon captured miners, cowboys, showmen, vendors, and passersby, among other people with rich histories, alone or in small groups, against a white background that enhanced their features, postures, and expressions. He created a striking portrait of this region and its residents, a counterpoint to traditional representations and glorifications of the myth of the American West. The sheer power of the 103 works that make up the final series and the book of the same name make In the American West a pivotal moment in Avedon’s work and a major milestone in the history of photographic portraiture.
The Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibition, running from April 30 to October 12, 2025, presents for the very first time in Europe all the images featured in the original work. Inviting the public to discover the entire series, as well as to follow the stages of its production and reception, the Foundation presents a complete selection of the prints by the printers who served as references for the exhibition and for the printing of the original 1985 book, alongside previously unpublished documents: preparatory Polaroids, test prints annotated by the photographer, and correspondence between the artist and his models.
To mark this anniversary, Abrams, publisher of the original work, is reissuing the long-out-of-print In the American West. Scheduled for publication in September 2025, a limited number of copies will be available exclusively at the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson bookstore from the start of the exhibition.
Exhibition curator:
Clément Chéroux
Director, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson
Richard Avedon : In the American West
April 30 — October 12, 2025
Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson
79 Rue des Archives
75003 Paris, France
www.henricartierbresson.org
