Avedon crowds the frame with his figures. In the visual field, we have no other clue to their origin or future than the clothes on their backs, the dirt on their skin, their matted hair, their leers and stares and strained smiles. With Avedon, facial expression marks the ultimate incommunicado of solitude. Otherwise, it would be easy to overlook small, telling details. For instance, the glasses that the women wear in many of the photographs have special significance for a group that bans jewelry.
Glasses become a shy sort of sumptuary object.
The control over adornment extends to money, too. Money is really to get some small thing. Birthday cards, for instance, are really popular. They are worried about individuals getting too independent in the community. They don't even want pets, because they are afraid pets will make the children competitive.