How Avedon Blurred His Own Image

His gift was not merely for the alive moment — the model, her chin up, leaping cleanly over a puddle. Rather, it was for knowing which of the myriad of gestures produced the truest sense of the moment. Whiteside found Avedon’s process utterly unique, explaining he “exercised meticulous control over his model, almost as though he were working from a blueprint.”

That blueprint is, broadly, the subject of a retrospective at the International Center of Photography, from May 15 to Sept. 6.