This Photographer Was Famous for Snapping Celebrities Like Marilyn Monroe, But His Images of Vietnam War Victims and Coal Miners Revealed the Surprising Power of Portraits

The photographer produced some of the most emblematic images of 20th-century America, capturing everyone from Hollywood icons to Vietnam War survivors. His life and legacy are the subject of a new documentary titled Avedon, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this month.

As Ron Howard tells Mia Galuppo of the Hollywood Reporter, this project was years in the making. The director wove together archival footage and images with new interviews to tell the story of a photographer whose impact on American culture often outweighs his personal fame.

“I had nothing but respect for the name Richard Avedon and the handful of images that I could ascribe to him, but no sense of the depth and reach of what he had done,” Howard says. “I could see that he wasn’t just taking photos of human beings as symbols or reflections. He was actually drawing out their inner self and finding ways to let that inform the photo, even if it was his commercial, glossy magazine work or advertising.”