Richard Avedon was an inspirational and highly successful American fashion and portrait photographer. He was first hired as a photographer for a fashion magazine called Harper’s Bazaar until establishing his own studio in 1946. Through this studio he shot numerous photographs for Vogue and soon developed his trademark using black and white imagery in a harshly lit setting without props. The photographs involved the models using emotions such as smiling and laughing. He would also photograph the models during movement to get a blurred affect. His inspiration for this technique came from a Hungarian photographer, Martin Munkasci who originally introduced shooting models in motion.1 Avedon shot many famous photographs of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin, as well as “unknown” people.2 An example of this is his series of the insane, in which he photographed mentally ill patients in the hospital. Also, Avedon is still recognized today for his series of photographs following his father loosing the battle against incurable cancer.3 He shot the Paris collection as Vogue’s staff photographer for almost fourty years until becoming the first ever staff photographer for The New Yorker at the age of 69 in 1992.4 Unfortunately while on assignment, Richard Avedon passed away doing what he loved and knew best and as he said himself in 1970, “If a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it’s as though I’ve neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up.” In 1958 Avedon was voted one of the ten greatest photographers in the world by Popular Photography. He will be forever remembered for his uncanny ability to capture raw emotion through photographs. 5

Jodi Cobb is a photojournalistic and documentary photographer specializing in large-scale global stories and shares her passion for closed worlds with the public through never before seen revolutionary photographs. Cobb uses her camera to ask important questions and make society think carefully about conditions in many different environments. Her career has led her to work in over fifty countries including the Middle East and Asia. She was the very first female photographer almost everywhere she worked during the early stages of her career, including National Geographic where she was hired as a staff and freelance photographer. Cobb was the first to capture the lives of women in Saudi Arabia, as well as the secret lives of the Japanese Geisha.6 She also did a documentary series captivating the lives of 21st century slaves. Whether it be a photograph of child slaves working on a carpet loom in India or a sixteen year old from Los Angeles who just escaped her pimp, the pictures capture the harsh realities of the world and tell a story all on their own. Her inspiration stems from real life situations, the complexity of human beings and unfamiliar cultures.7 Jodi Cobb once said, “I want my photographs to either be beautiful or meaningful.”8 She has proven this to be true by accepting many awards throughout the years including the first women to be named The White House Photographer of the Year and Pictures of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association.9 Jodi Cobb has made her mark on society through informative and inspirational photographs depicting many different lives, cultures and their norms.