A new black and white exhibit gives San Diego a colorful look at our nation’s social and political past, through the eyes of Richard Avedon, now showing at San Diego Museum of Art.

Richard Avedon: Portraits of Power showcases more than 150 political portraits by the pre-eminent portrait and fashion photographer, on exhibit now through September 6, 2009.

The exhibition traces Avedon’s interest in, and fascination with, politics from the 1950s until his death in 2004, featuring rarely seen photographs — many of which are drawn from the collection of The Richard Avedon Foundation — and never-been-exhibited or published works.

Also featured in the exhibition is the groundbreaking series, The Family. Commissioned by Rolling Stone magazine in 1976, this series contains portraits of elected officials, government bureaucrats, lawyers, and lobbyists — all members of the American political, military, media, and corporate elite. Contrary to his normal practice, Avedon allowed his subjects to choose their own poses in this series in order to provide a more naturalistic representation of each model’s personality.

Richard Avedon was the most important American fashion photographer and portraitist of his time. Starting as a photographer in the Merchant Marine during World War II, Avedon learned the ropes by creating identification portraits. He later photographed for such notable publications as Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and The New Yorker. For more info, visit sdmart.org.

We discovered Richard Avedon: Portraits of Power during the Culture & Cocktails event in conjunction with Art Alive at San Diego Museum of Art. View Culture & Cocktails photos here.

Insider Tip: Free with admission, Sunday, June 21 is Family Drop-in Day from 1-3 pm. Meant for families with children 6-12 years old, this program encourages exploration and learning about self-portraits by surveying Richard Avedon: Portraits of Power in a variety of child-friendly activities.