Richard Avedon - a bone to pick with fashion

Fashion photographer Richard Avedon who worked with Vogue and Harper's Bazaar created a collection of photographs named 'In Memory of the Late Mr and Mrs Comfort: A Fable' in which the above picture is part. The collection was created in 1995 and Avedon has since passed away aged 81 in 2004.

Stemming from a disillusionment with contemporary fashion photography, according to the Sunday Times Avedon's work was "designed to make an impact paradoxically staged, yet authentic". The work has caused a statement in America and before today's Sunday Times Magazine piece the photos have not been published in the UK. Telling a story, they depict the model's relationship with a skeleton from images of the model simulating sex with the skeleton, to their ghostly baby and the eventual deterioration of the relationship which sees the skeleton banishing the model from their house. Curator Christian Caujolle believes this project was Avedon's farewell to fashion.

Whatever it is that Avedon was saying, the one thing that you can be sure of is that the photos are shocking yet stunning, if I could pop over to Arles in France where the shots are on display I definitely would.