Richard Avedon vs Steven Meisel Photography - Who Wins? (Composition Techniques) 2022 

I think Richard's work is an example of that era.

They are both great photographers, but Avedon is in another league and let's not forget that Avedon captured most of these on a large format camera. Insane to think about capturing that kind of movement on a slow camera like that. A real visionary.

interesting comparison but you lost me when it came to Dovima with Elephants....its considered among the best fashion photos ever, compared to fine art photography.

I love Meisel's work! But You made me upgrade my perception of Avedon's work.

At 10:44 you refer to "that structure in the background." It's the Eiffel Tower. placing her in Paris.

Meisel studied avedon the best, he understood what makes a fashion image come alive with minimal settings or location and even a whole story behind it

I am shocked that some of the shots they have done has a lot of similarites in them. Both legendary photographers without a doubt. However, I think some of the comparison aren't exactly appropriate, e.g. the one with the elephants vs.Linda Evangelista, the two shots are very different and they have different contexts to begin with, their setup are also different etc.. The one with Madonna and Marilyn was also not an appropriate one, with Marilyn's shot clearly presented as an outake or a test shot rather than a final print, Madonna's shot was in the final print and has a completely different lighting setup. I think when we rate a photo, we need to look at it from an artistic standpoint, from the technical standpoint, and most importantly, the stories that it tells. Let's also not forget that how the images were being created (or the oocasion that the images were created) e.g. a fashion shot, portrait, studio shot, street photography, candid etc. Not that contrast isn't important, but it is not always a determining factor for a good photograph, the image can look "hazy" and low in contrast but still look great and moody.

You speak of Avedon in the present tense; he's been dead for twenty years. He also pretty much invented the practice of shooting models in motion. Am I complaining too much?

At 6:24 you say: "This is an older image," and you don't like the hair. The model is Twiggy which dates it to the mid-60's, and her hair was short..

Great video.

That was a great side by side comparison! I once heard(so don't take it as truth)that when Steven Meisel started out in Photography there was an editor help him out who made Steven Meisel emulate Richard Avedon's style. Great content!

My eyes like Richard Avadon's images.

At 10:10 you refer to the subject as "this woman." Ferchrissakes, it's Elizabeth Taylor.

Avedon created the image, Steven copies Avedon. The original vs the mimic. Going low for views. No person in their right mind would compare the 2.

love what you do for us, thanks always

Irving Penn

Awesome video, Thanks a lot Tavis!

I disagree @ 10:46. Her body overlapping with the structure looks great and natural. Morphing the subject with the environment in a tasteful and geometric way.

Avedon because he is the original Steven copied a lot from Avedon i.e Andy’s Warhol and the factory and the poses from Avedon Versace ads. But Steven is a great photographer in his own right especially his vouge Italia work. He’s probably one of the last great photographer’s left today.

Do you have videos on figure ground relationship?

I like when people show how little they know especially misusing art theory and how little they know of it

Avedon was disadvantaged in this comparison by older technology

And am I the only one thinking that this is the best Adele Portrait ever made?

Mmm most of your coments are job of the stylists and the magazine editors. It aint Steven’s nor Richard’s job to style the models neither choose the typography, letter colors or text placements.

Excellent

At 4:24 you say: "They both have one eye covered." Not quite right; Shrimpton's eye blinks when she is moved up and down.

I'm sorry but I think this is ridiculous. First, I believe the voiceover is probably a bot. If I were going to do a comparison, I would make sure I knew how to pronounce their names. Second, the comparisons are not only of 2 ingenious photographers, they're comparisons of graphic artists, hair stylists, fashion designers, make-up artists, and retouchers. Nothing against Meisel, he is a great artist, but personally, I believe Avedon, Newton, and Penn were more than great artists, they were also trendsetters, they broke the mold and revolutionized their industry. They boldly went where no photographer had gone before, then the others followed.

Your content is great and very inspiring but Its not a fair comparison, to my opinion you can't compare the classic artist (Avedon) to a modern one (SM- aka ZIROX)) because it's less pure and more accumulated with influences . Kyle mclechlan could play Richard Avedon (means oblivion in Hebrew) if there was a movie about his life

Interesting side/by/side. Former director of photography and current commercial photographer here. I actually worked with Meisel years ago (Michael Hutchinson INXS) and also was on a shoot with Avedon (I think Martin Luther King III). Not that either would really remember me being on set. Anyway, Meisel to me a bit more inventive than Avedon. Meisel is super referential...but he doesn't care that you know he is referencing a certain period or a certain photographer. He gives it his own personality. There is a surface sheen to his pics. His pics are never really sexy--unlike Mario Testino's images, for example. Meisel never evolved into a personality photographer I think because he really wanted too much control on the esthetics of the shoot. And I'm sure he preferred working with beautiful models with less flaws than normal actors or celebrities. (And when I was in publishing the PR agents for celebrities slowly gained more and more control of what was done on set and that prob annoyed Meisel to no end. Actually, when we shot Hutchinson, I felt what little input I gave Meisel was completely ignored and he just went off and did what he wanted-I left the shoot early because I was sort of useless, creatively, that day). Avedon came into his own when there were many less photographers and he was lucky to work with Alexey Brodovitch at Harper's Bazaar who saw Avedon's strengths and played to those strengths. I personally found Avedon's commercial work--Versace for example, kinda boring. Avedon's commercial work felt like a payday more than a creative endeavor.

AVEDON WINS HANDS DOWN ! MEISEL IS JUST A COPY CAT......

Modern models have nothing going on in the eyes. Madonna beats Munroe???? That's one of the most famous shots ever. Madonna shows nothing. Same with most of the rest. Nothing going on in the eyes...

Sorry here you compare mainly cover pages layouts that are not made by the photographers

Steven Meisel…

Weird "contest".

It's a joke, right? Richard Avedon of course, the rest is just copies and nonsense.

2 guys that didn’t know SHIT about photography. I worked for both. Fashion is all about who you know, not what you know. When experts do all the work, Anyone can push the button a few Hundred times and get an image!