From April 30th to October 12th, 2025, the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris presents In the American West, celebrating 40 years since Richard Avedon completed his iconic photographic series. Created between 1979 and 1984, the project saw Avedon traverse the western United States, capturing over 1,000 people from all walks of life. Working with a large-format camera and stark white backdrops, Avedon stripped away context to focus on the raw humanity of miners, ranch hands, carnival workers, and drifters.
For Avedon, these portraits dismantled the myth of the heroic West, replacing it with a gaze both intimate and unsettling. The exhibition marks the first time the complete series—103 images featured in the original book—is shown in Europe. Also on view are the behind-the-scenes layers of the project: contact sheets, annotated test prints, and correspondence with his subjects. One standout is a preparatory Polaroid of a sunburnt oil field worker, revealing Avedon’s careful attention to gesture and presence.
Another highlight is the display of the engraver’s reference prints used in the 1985 publication, which underscore the artist’s control over tone and contrast. Curated by Clément Chéroux, the show affirms Avedon’s enduring impact on portrait photography. In conjunction, Abrams is reissuing the long-unavailable book that helped define a generation’s view of the American West.
Boyd Fortin, thirteen year old rattlesnake skinner, Sweetwater, Texas, March 10, 1979
Courtesy of THE RICHARD AVEDON FOUNDATION
Ruby Mercer, publicist, Frontier Days, Cheyenne, Wyoming, July 31, 1982
Courtesy of THE RICHARD AVEDON FOUNDATION
Petra Alvarado, factory worker, on her birthday, El Paso, Texas, April 22, 1982
Courtesy of THE RICHARD AVEDON FOUNDATION
Clarence Lippard, Drifter, Interstate 80, Sparks, Nevada, 29 August, 1983
Courtesy of THE RICHARD AVEDON FOUNDATION