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This volume showcases Avedon’s uncompromising approach to portraiture — stripping away artifice to reveal vulnerability, identity, and presence. The accordion format reinforces the sense of continuity and confrontation, allowing viewers to engage with the portraits as a flowing visual narrative rather than isolated images. Featuring subjects from artists and performers to everyday individuals, Richard Avedon Portraits stands as both a landmark photobook and an object of design innovation.
Richard Avedon Portraits is an extraordinary and unconventional photobook by one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. Published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in 2002 and printed in Italy by Arti Grafiche, this volume abandons traditional binding entirely in favor of a dramatic accordion-fold (leporello) format, allowing the portraits to unfold as a continuous visual experience.
The book is housed in its original illustrated slipcase, featuring striking photographic images including John Martin (dancer) and Ronald Fischer (beekeeper, famously photographed nude and covered in bees) — instantly recognizable Avedon imagery. When fully extended, the book becomes a powerful exhibition-style presentation rather than a conventional codex.
- Format: Hardcover, accordion-fold / leporello (no spine or binding)
- Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
- Printing: Arti Grafiche, Italy
- Edition: First edition (no later printings noted)
Condition
- Book: Very good condition. Pages are clean, bright, and structurally sound with no tears or stains.
- Slipcase: Good overall. Some seams have begun to separate and would benefit from light glue repair; otherwise solid and displays beautifully. Please see photos.
D3.
