Ron Howard's new documentary movie, Avedon, reminds us why the greatest photographer of the 20th century didn't care what camera he used

Left: A close-up self-portrait of Richard Avedon grinning broadly, both hands pressed against his temples, the image slightly soft-focused and full of manic energy. Right: A young man in black sits casually across two ornate chairs before a white studio backdrop marked with a large red painted X.

There's a line in Avedon, Ron Howard's new documentary movie about legendary New York photographer Richard Avedon (1923-2004), that really hits home for me. A former studio assistant recalls, matter-of-factly, that Avedon "wasn't technical".

For a man who defined the visual language of the 20th century, who shot decades of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar covers, who photographed Marilyn Monroe, Pablo Picasso and a teenage Lew Alcindor (aka basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), that's a remarkable thing to hear.