Inspirational Images: Terry O'Neill and Richard Avedon

TERRY O'NEILL

Faye Dunaway, Oscar, 1977

'Terry O’Neill’s candid photojournalistic portraits of creative and political luminaries have included Brigitte Bardot, The Beatles, Audrey Hepburn, Nelson Mandela, and Frank Sinatra, to name just a few, and have appeared on the covers of Life, Rolling Stone, and Vogue. Over the years O’Neill has formed close bonds with many of his sitters, evidenced by the intimate, snapshot-style nature of many of his photographs from the 1960s and 70s' (artsy.net, 2019).  

Brigitte Bardot, Cigar, 1971

Raquel Welch on set of  Myra Breckenridge, Los Angeles, 1970

Sean Connery, James Bond, Las Vegas, 1971

I have selected these images from O'Neill's collective work as particularly inspirational to me. In the first image of Faye Dunaway, 1977, I admire the balance between the casual and the dramatic, seen in contrast between the subjects body language and the glamorous, busy background composition, with the hectic mess of the newspapers thrown around the Academy Award highlighting it's dominance. I also admire the low contrast, soft tone and pastel colours of the image, evoking again a glamorous tranquillity. 

The following three images inspired me most when compared to one another. O'Neill's portrait of Bridgitte Bardot evokes a strong, masculine persona from the woman, posed smoking a cigar which is typically and historically seen as a masculine act in media such as 1950s Hollywood Film. 
The next image of Raquel Wench shows 3 men of power gawking at a woman above them, perhaps a satirical criticism of the way women are sexualised by men in power or simply replicating this sexualisation obliviously. 
I admire the third image of Sean Connery's contrast to the other images representation of gender. A male figure shows dominant and powerful body language, the reflection of this figure perhaps doubling the power he has. 
These photographs show the different ways men and women can be portrayed in relation to their own sense of power, dominance and sexualisation by the photographer's construction. 

All images and info accessed via:
Artsy (2019) Artist: Terry O'Neill. Available at: https://www.artsy.net/artist/terry-oneill (Accessed 03 May 2019)

RICHARD AVEDON

Audrey Hepburn and Art Buchwald, with Simone D’Aillencourt, Frederick Eberstadt, Barbara Mullen, and Dr. Reginald Kernan, evening dresses by Balmain, Dior, and Patou, Maxim's Paris, August 1959

Sunny Harnett and Alla, evening dresses by Balmain, Casino, Le Touquet, August 1954

Suzy Parker and Robin Tattersall, evening dress by Gres, Moulin Rouge, Paris, August 1957

All of the above three images have a similar aesthetic and connotation for me. All evoke a romanticised Hollywood glamour through the high contrast black and white tone. The composition of each of the images, although different, all direct the focal attention to the female subject/subjects, who are all surrounded by multiple male subjects. In all cases, the female subjects are either being gazed at by male subjects, or in direct personal/romantic engagement with them.

These images are representative of the sexualised way women are seen to be portrayed in classic Hollywood media.

For a deeper feminist theoretical critique of the ‘male gaze’ in film and other media, please see separate blog post on Laura Mulvey’s text Visual pleasure and Narrative Cinema, 1975 'LAURA MULVEY: Feminist Historical Theory'. 

Please also visit the following blog post by Curatingthecontemporary 'Subverting the male gaze' (2014) which discusses the origin of the gaze in deeper discussion in relation to Jaques Lacan, Laura Mulvey and photographic work by Cindy Sherman (also further researched in my own seperate post on this blog). 

https://curatingthecontemporary.org/2014/11/07/subverting-the-male-gaze-femininity-as-masquerade-in-untitled-film-stills-1977-1980-by-cindy-sherman/

Curatingthecontemporary (2014) Subverting the male gaze. Available at: https://curatingthecontemporary.org/2014/11/07/subverting-the-male-gaze-femininity-as-masquerade-in-untitled-film-stills-1977-1980-by-cindy-sherman/ (Accessed 03 May 2019). 

Ronald Fischer, Beekeeper, Davis, California, May 9, 1981

Although this image is obviously different to the others, in composition and the choice of subject and consequent evocation of the photograph, I admire Avedon’s use of pure white background here – it is a prime example of how effective the background of a photograph make-up can be in adding to the meaning of the piece without overshadowing – it allows the form and outline of the body to stand proudly alone, and emphasizes the high contrast of the image allowing the shapes made by the bees to have an even more dramatic effect. The white (or plain, neutral) background is something which I am very interested in incorporating into my own final work.

All images and information accessed via:

Avedon Foundation (2019) The Work. Available at: https://www.avedonfoundation.org/the-work (Accessed 03 May 2019).