Richard Avedon's striking portrait of poet W. H. Auden captures the celebrated writer's deeply lined face with unflinching clarity, a hallmark of Avedon's iconic black-and-white style. Shot against Avedon's signature plain white background, the gelatin silver print draws full attention to Auden's weathered, expressive features, which seem to tell the story of a life richly lived. The 1994 printing of this 1960 image preserves the crisp tonal contrasts and precise detail that made Avedon one of the most celebrated portrait photographers of the twentieth century.