San Francisco folks scored big time with this summer's comprehensive Richard Avedon: Photographs 1946-2004 exhibit up now through November 29 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

After being discovered by Harper's Bazaar's famed art director Alexy Brodovitch in the Forties, Avedon went on to change fashion imagery and portraiture forever.

He asked his models and famous sitters to be expressive instead of static, and, in turn, he created some of the most iconic images of the 20th Century -- from "Dovima With Elephants" to a contemplative Marilyn Monroe and a pile of sexy bodies for 1980's Versace ads.

Beyond his images of models, musicians and actors, some of Avedon's most revered work is the stark portraits of miners, cowboys and drifters from his six-year "In The American West" project, where he shot hundreds of regular Americans against his signature white backdrop.

Can't make it to San Fran for the exhibit? Check out the below gallery to see a sampling of the work that made Avedon a legendary lensman.