Richard Avedon died on 1 October, 2004, in San Antonio, Texas, while on assignment for The New Yorker magazine. He was, and is, a personal inspiration.

The Avedon Foundation is a good online resource for information about the man and his art. It also includes several, typically Avedon, quotes and interviews. Here's one:

"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 an interesting collection of photographs that Avedon kept for himself was on display at Pace/MacGill in New York this summer, and is now at the Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco, 5 October through 25 November 2006.

The exhibition, and its catalog, are titled EYE OF THE BEHOLDER: Photographs from the Collection of Richard Avedon, and we are pleased to be able to share some of photos from Avedon's private collection here.