Wire report

‘I’m looking for faces which surprise me’: how Richard Avedon photographed the soul of his subjects

Ron Howard’s illuminating Netflix documentary looks back on the career of one of America’s most inventive and versatile photographers Richard Avedon had only taken a couple of frames when he accidentally hit his head on a light being held above him. The Dalai Lama burst into laughter. That was when Avedon snapped two more frames and announced: “Oh, I got it!” Avedon’s assistant, Sebastian Kim , was baffled. “I was like, what the hell happened? There’s only four frames out of a roll of 12 frames,” he recalls in a phone interview. “I realised he knew at that moment that something had happened, a mistake had happened: he hit his head and the Dalai Lama lit up.” Continue reading...

Image from linked report: ‘I’m looking for faces which surprise me’: how Richard Avedon photographed the soul of his subjects
Image from the linked report: ‘I’m looking for faces which surprise me’: how Richard Avedon photographed the soul of his subjects.Credit: The Guardian Thumbnail shown with attribution and outbound source link; VINI does not claim ownership or republish the original article body. Image source Image shown with attribution and an outbound source link; VINI does not claim ownership or republish the original article body.
Reading time2 min

coverage / Wire report

Reader toolsFollow the reporting.

Get updates, read source context, send useful records, share the story, or support the reporting work from the reading page.

FollowGet story updatesBriefs and topic returnsContextOpen background1 public sourceContributeSend recordsDocuments, dates, photosSupportFund reportingReader-backed workShareCopy story URLvininews.com
Why it mattersCulture

Ron Howard’s illuminating Netflix documentary looks back on the career of one of America’s most inventive and versatile photographers Richard Avedon had only taken a couple of frames when he accidentally hit his head on a light being held above him. The Dalai Lama burst into laughter. That was when Avedon snapped two more frames and announced: “Oh, I got it!” Avedon’s assistant, Sebastian Kim , was baffled. “I was like, what the hell happened? There’s only four frames out of a roll of 12 frames,” he recalls in a phone interview. “I realised he knew at that moment that something had happened, a mistake had happened: he hit his head and the Dalai Lama lit up.” Continue reading...

What to know1 source

Check the original link, updates, and responses when a detail is contested.

Keep readingdesign

Open topic or search related wording such as records, sources, agencies, dates, and locations.

What happened

According to The Guardian’s source item, ‘I’m looking for faces which surprise me’: how Richard Avedon photographed the soul of his subjects, Ron Howard’s illuminating Netflix documentary looks back on the career of one of America’s most inventive and versatile photographers Richard Avedon had only taken a couple of frames when he accidentally hit his head on a light being held above him. The Dalai Lama burst into laughter. That was when Avedon snapped two more frames and announced: “Oh, I got it!” Avedon’s assistant, Sebastian Kim , was baffled. “I was like, what the hell happened? There’s only four frames out of a roll of 12 frames,” he recalls in a phone interview. “I realised he knew at that moment that something had happened, a mistake had happened: he hit his head and the Dalai Lama lit up.” Continue reading…

Context

The development sits in VINI’s Culture file for readers following arts, entertainment, fashion, film, music, celebrity, and the business of culture. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-11-10T10:00:34+00:00.

What to watch

Open questions include whether primary sources issue follow-up statements, whether local or market impacts become clearer, and whether additional reporting changes the timeline or adds material context.

Source

Primary source: ‘I’m looking for faces which surprise me’: how Richard Avedon photographed the soul of his subjects via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.

Keep following

This file can keep developing

vininews.com uses reader tips, public records, right-of-reply requests, corrections, and follow-up reporting to keep important stories current.

SubscribeGet the next updateSend recordsShare documents or leadsRespondRequest comment or replyDonateSupport reporting costs

Support and subscriptions never buy coverage, placement, suppression, or corrections.

This VINI report keeps the original publisher link available and does not republish third-party article bodies without rights clearance. 1 reference listed.

Source links

Reader comments

Moderated discussion

Account access

Comments are open to authenticated approved accounts, screened for spam and abuse, and published only after newsroom moderation unless editors change the story control.

Loading comments.

No approved comments yet.

Substantive, civil comments can be submitted by approved account holders.