I first became really, really aware of Richard Avedon and his amazing photography reading an extensive profile done about him in American Photographer Magazine in 1980. I think I got the year correct. I was traveling in Europe at the time, was relatively "underfunded" and that magazine, with the large photo of Avedon against a black background on the cover, ate up all of my magazine budget in the moment. The result of my limited circumstances was my re-reading the magazine and the Avedon profile over and over again and, when I got home, I started doing research, which in those days meant going to the libraries, bookstores and other outlets to see what one could dig up. And all of a sudden, there was plenty to see about Avedon. He was my singular inspiration when I started my own career in photography. Well, I guess I should give a nod to Irving Penn as well...
I was able to meet Avedon in person at the opening of his show, "In the American West" at the Amon Carter Museum in Ft. Worth, Texas. The next day my wife and I got to attend the 2+ hour lecture he gave to a packed auditorium near the museum proper. That was in 1985. Here's a good link about that groundbreaking tour de force of that photography and printing: https://www.cartermuseum.org/carter-collection/collection-group/american-west
I have subsequently collected every monograph, biography, and, well, any book of any kind, featuring Avedon, in the ensuing years. Starting with "Nothing Personal" (Photos by Avedon, Prose by James Baldwin), a smallish paperback book. And bookending with "Immortals" in 2025. In fact, my admiration of Avedon and his work is so well known in my circles that I received no fewer than three copies of the hardcover "Immortals" book for my birthday.
So, when I heard that the actual prints that the book, "Immortals" is based on would be displayed in a large and well produced show in Montreal I just felt that I had to go and look at the images directly, firsthand. As I had done with the show of "In The American West." And I knew I needed to go soon because Summer is a bad time to travel and, the show will end in August.
After a few rough, false starts earlier in the year I finally grabbed Air Canada tickets for direct flights to and from Montreal. The journey each way takes a bit less than 4 hours, airport-to-airport. That makes it a doable trip at almost any time. Being the off season and world (in)stability being what it is right now the ticket prices were low enough to make it reasonable to upgrade to first class -- which makes flying less stressful. That, and if there are delays in either direction one has full access to the premium airline lounge (and bar...).
I left Austin last Monday, spent a full week in Montreal and got back home on Sunday night. And I am so happy with my adventure. I did a few logistical things outside my comfort zone. Just for fun. When I travel with family and we are moving from airports to dense urban environments I almost always arrange for private car service from an established company. In New York parlance: A black car service. Not much more expensive than a taxi ride but generally much, much more reliable and pleasant.
Since I was traveling solo this time I decided to try public transportation. No private car. No taxi. No even an Uber. Nope. This time I figured out how to catch the 747 bus from the airport to the Lionel-Groulx Metro station. (about a 45 minute ride). From there I dragged my roller case and overfilled camera bag down into the Metro and caught the Green Line to the Berri station and then transferred to the Orange Line and got off at the Square Victoria stop and walked four or five blocks to my hotel. The total cost was $11 Canadian Dollars or, about $8.25.
I had the nice suprise of being upgraded to a large, upper floor suite at the hotel. Again, it's a slow travel season and people still think it may be too cold at this time (it's not!). I think having pre-paid for six nights was a point in my favor. I've stayed at the L Hotel in the Old Town several times before and loved it each time. Getting a big and comfortable suite to ramble around in was the cherry on top.
The next morning, after a croissant and several cups of coffee, I headed back into the Metro with one camera and two lenses, bought a seven day pass from a machine just near the turnstiles ( which provides for unlimited travel on the Metro, city busses and even for my return trip to the airport on the 747 bus at the far end of the week). An amazing bargain at $28.50 USD. Amazingly affordable, safe, convenient and easy to figure out ground transportation.
I'd been to the Musee de Beaux Arts several times before and not too long ago (2023) so it was easy to plot my course to Magill College and walk through a sunny and mild morning to get to the museum from the underground. After buying my entrance ticket I went straight to the Avedon show which is in a giant gallery on the S2 level of the museum. I expected crowds but again, it was mid-week, off season, and the show had already been open for months. For the first twenty or thirty minutes I was all alone in the big gallery space. Eventually others came in but there were never more than ten people, tops, in the whole space. Which made taking one's time and going back and forth to look again and again at different prints a lot more pleasurable. Most of the prints rewarded my travels by being more impactful and captivating than the same images, presented much smaller, in the books. A few images disappointed me in that it looked like Avedon just more or less screwed up, technically, with exposure or processing of the film and then hit the quality edges of the envelope in trying to wrest a good print out of a so-so negative --- by sheer will power.
There was a separate, but attached, smaller gallery dedicated to the larger prints that Avedon made of his father, over time, dying of cancer. I had never seen then in person but after looking at them I started moving my own "bucket lists" forward because....you never know.
Was the Avedon show alone worth the trip from Austin to Montreal? Yeah, I think so. It was like a catharsis from the medical stuff I went through earlier in the year and it also cemented the idea that my own retirement was the right move for me. But it also inspired me to think about doing more and more of my own portrait work. And it made me happy to see that while I have always been inspired by Avedon my work looks and feels nothing like his. A relief of sorts, since artists never want to knowingly copy their inspiring artists.
The show is about aging and many who read the blog are right there with me. Getting a bit further along in the years and still trying to figure out what most needs to get done and which things can be abandoned as meaningless. I spent the week alone with my own thoughts and my own company, just thinking about how I want to navigate the time ahead. And I came to the conclusion that life works itself out and the gods laugh at those who imagine they can plan for every contingency.
As a bonus, in addition to the Avedon show, the museum is hosting a traveling show of ancient Roman sculpture and statues. That show is wonderful and provides, at least in the moment, a window into an ancient time.
After seeing both the Avedon show and the Roman sculpture show I had lunch in the museum restaurant and then returned to see both shows a second time. Yes. Any travel, for me, was worth it.
Camera of the day? SL2-S. Lenses? 50mm f1.4 and 21mm. Fun to play with both. And, the SL2-S can see in the dark. Different lens selections almost every day I was there. The SL2-S should get more love from everyone....It's a really nice camera.
That's my first report.
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