In the American West, 1979-1984

Abstract

Avedon's In the American was a large-scale project intended to create a portrait of Americans of the The photographer traveled for five years meeting and photographing the people of the West - ranch workers, roustabouts, bar girls, drifters, and gamblers. He focused on men and women who worked at hard, uncelebrated jobs and lead unheralded lives. When the work was exhibited at the Amon Carter Museum, a reporter at the local paper wrote, this is not our West. The show was controversial and remains so. The book includes an essay by Avedon on his working methods and portrait philosophy, as well as a journal of the project by Laura Wilson. The new edition also includes a brief foreword by John Rohrbach, senior curator of photographs at the Amon Carter Museum, but is otherwise unchanged from the original book.

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