AVEDON AT WORK
In the American West
By Laura Wilson
Foreword by Larry McMurtry
Designed by Gregory Wakabayashi
Hardcover; 9 x 11; 132 pages
With photographs by Richard Avedon
Published by University of Texas Press
Photographer Laura Wilson worked with Richard Avedon during the six years it took for him to complete his opus, In the American West, one of the most important bodies of work in American photography. In Avedon at Work, Wilson presents a unique photographic record of Avedon’s creation, the first time a major photographer has been documented in great depth over an extended period of time.
She combines images she made during the portrait sessions with entries from her journal to show Avedon’s working methods, his choice of subjects, his creative process, and even his experiments and failures. With her book, Wilson has added a new dimension to our understanding of one of the twentieth century’s most significant series of portraits.