Fashion photographer Tarun Khiwal on Richard Avedon
It’s extremely difficult to pick one image that has influenced me, which I can deem a classic.
There have been many iconic photographs and photographers ever since the advent of photography but a photographer who has really stood out and pushed boundaries when it comes to fashion and portraiture photography was Richard Avedon.
He was an icon, he set and maintained the benchmark for fashion. He was probably the most consistent of all photographers and his career spanned 60 years.

Avedon produced a number of masterpieces that defy time. But I like the sepia image of a girl standing on her heels and touching her dress that is flying in the air.
Avedon started his career at a very early age in post-war Paris. Till then, fashion photography was very conventional and posed. It was Avedon who introduced the aspect of documentary and movement into fashion. The image I mentioned is one of his movement images, a shot of model Veruschka in New York in January 1967.
I like it for its simplicity. This image is timeless. Even today it is fashionable. That was the kind of work Avedon produced.