On Saturday John and I spent a fabulous day together. We went up to San Francisco in his car with the top down and enjoyed an unusually hot day in the city. When San Francisco is sunny it seems like the best place on earth. Everyone was out and about, and the streets bustled with art and interesting characters to stare at. Plus I got to spend an entire day with one of my favorite people!
We went to SF MOMA and saw the Richard Avedon exhibit. We were both blown away by his photographs. He did a lot of fashion photography but what resonated with me the most was the intimate portraits he took. His pictures were very simple and straight forward yet carried a rawness that made them so very real. I am not sure how he did this but you really felt as if you knew something intimate about each person he photographed...almost like when his shutter snapped it grabbed something more than light, it grabbed the soul.
A lot of portrait photography is about making the person look approachable, pretty, and perfect. His pictures however made everyone look human, flawed, and utterly beautiful in a very real way. He went beyond the smile that comes with saying "cheese" and found something pure behind the mask.
