Richard Avedon

This is a very famous picture by Richard Avedon. This picture is called "Nastassja Kinski and the Serpent." He took it in Los Angeles, California, June 1981. Nastassja is a German actress who has appeared in more than 60 films in Europe and the United States. Richard Avedon was born in New York City on May 15th 1923. He studied with Alexey Brodovitch at The Design Laboratory, New School for Social Research, New York City. He won some awards, had more than 10 books, and held many exhibitions in the United States. He passed away on October 1st 2004 in Texas while on assignment for The New Yorker magazine and the Richard Avedon Foundation is established.
http://www.richardavedon.com/index.php#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=2&p=2&a=1&at=0http://www.richardavedon.com/index.php#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=2&p=2&a=1&at=0

I got this picture off of his website. I think he shot this picture in color and then turn it into black and white, but I'm not sure. This is a very famous picture and I read somewhere that it was going on sale for $50,000. I also read somewhere that Avedon did a lot of prep work to get this photo perfect. He probably took 99 bad shots to get this 1 good shot. This is a beautiful picture. She is lying very still and her eyes aren't looking directly at us. She looks relaxed even though she is probably scared that a giant snake is slithering across her naked body. I like her facial expression. I don't think this picture would have been as powerful if she was clothed. It's scarier because this powerful creature is on her bare body and could probably bite her. The only thing the actress is wearing is a big white bracelet. I think the levels are well done. I think this picture has a good balance of highlights and shadows. I also like how the actress and snake is positioned. This is a very iconic picture and I can see why.

I also found this picture in color. I think it looks better in black and white.