By Leah Dolan, CNN

London (CNN) — In 1979, photographer Richard Avedon packed up his antiquated Deardorff camera, jumped in a Chevy Suburban and drove across Texas, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Colorado, California and 15 other American states, hoping to capture an essence of the regions through the people who lived there. These were parts of the country Avedon, a native New Yorker, had never set foot in before. Typically, he was more familiar with the company of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn — subjects for his numerous fashion shoots and celebrity portraits. Now Avedon was driving through America’s wide-open roads, visiting country fairs, rodeos and slaughter houses, often pulling the wagon over whenever he found an interesting face.

It took him five years, and over one thousand sittings, to complete his mission. The resulting photography series, “In the American West,” catalogs miners, drifters, dryland farmers, prisoners, undocumented migrants, truckers, factory workers and meat packers in 126 freckled and mud-splattered portraits. Avedon’s ode to America’s forgotten workforce first went on view at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas in 1985. “Those images were so powerful,” said photographer Constance Jaeggi, whose 2025 series “Escaramuza” visited many of the same parts of the US that Avedon did. “Especially coming from Switzerland and having a more romanticized vision of the American West… Those photos were such a contrast with that.”

Now, four decades later, a unique selection of the original images are on display again — this time at the Gagosian gallery in London. Curated by Avedon’s granddaughter, Caroline Avedon, who has been an archivist at The Avedon Foundation since 2021, the show marks her first solo project. At 26 years old, Avedon has set out to make the much-lauded photography series feel accessible to her generation. “I’m technically Gen Z,” she said, standing in the middle of the whitewashed space. “I wanted to give younger people an opportunity to possibly connect with the subjects.”

Instead of just spotlighting portraits that are art-world favorites, such as “bee man” Ronald Fischer (which she remembers scaring her as a child), Avedon chose to shift emphasis onto the kids, teenagers and young adults that the photographer — who she regularly slips into calling “grandpa” — captured. She hopes the picture of Teresa Waldron, a fresh-faced fourteen-year old wife with a willful stare, or Tracey Featherston, a young smokey-eyed motel maid from Dixon, California, for example, might bridge the gap of professional or geographical differences for a new audience. “Human connection is found no matter what,” she said.

But when Avedon’s series first debuted, the work was criticized by some as exploitative. Questions centered on whether Avedon’s use of a stark white background stripped these real people of their deserved context, and flattened them into objects or characters to be consumed by the elite. “Who would not look alienated, who would not look dispossessed when asked to stand rootless against a seamless white paper?” read an essay in the Journal of the Southern Regional Council in 1987. But supporters argue that Avedon’s style didn’t interfere with what was essentially important documentary photography — and platformed a cross-section of people rarely seen

By Brian Stelter, Katelyn Polantz, CNN

(CNN) — Last month, Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson penned a first-person piece about her long year as “the federal government whisperer,” receiving tips from hundreds of federal workers impacted by President Donald Trump’s transformation of the government.

On Wednesday morning, FBI agents arrived at Natanson’s home and executed a search warrant. One phone and two computers were seized, the Post reported.

Attorney General Pam Bondi alleged in a post on X that Natanson was “obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor.”

The Post had no immediate response to Bondi’s allegation. Earlier, a Post spokesperson said the publication was monitoring the situation.

The highly unusual search immediately set off alarms among press freedom advocates.

“Searches of newsrooms and journalists are hallmarks of illiberal regimes, and we must ensure that these practices are not normalized here,” said Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute.

Natanson was told that she is not a target of the investigation, a person familiar with the matter told CNN. Instead, it appears to be related to an ongoing probe of a government contractor in Maryland.

According to the Post’s own story, “the warrant said that law enforcement was investigating Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a system administrator in Maryland who has a top secret security clearance and has been accused of accessing and taking home classified intelligence reports that were found in his lunchbox and his basement, according to an FBI affidavit.”

Perez-Lugones was charged last week with illegally retaining classified documents, according to a federal affidavit.

Bondi did not name any specific individual in her statement, but said, “The leaker is currently behind bars.”

She said the search of Natanson’s home was “at the request of the Department of War,” using the Trump administration’s preferred name for the Department of Defense.

“The Trump administration will not tolerate illegal leaks of classified information that, when reported, pose a grave risk to our Nation’s national security and the brave men and women who are serving our country,” Bondi said.

‘A tremendous escalation’

Reporters immediately expressed concern about a more sweeping pursuit of leakers. In last month’s Post column, Natanson described having 1,169 new Signal contacts from across the federal government — people who “decided to trust me with their stories.”

Signal is an encrypted messaging app, generally considered to be a secure way to communicate with sources. Natanson also described other steps she took to ensure the confidentiality of the people who wanted to confide in her.

But now, a Post reporter told CNN on condition of anonymity, “We’re all scrambling to figure out what additional precautions we need to take.”

A second Post reporter said, “We’re horrified for Hannah, who’s a wonderful reporter, and scared for ourselves, trying to think through how best to further protect sources and secure our reporting and devices.”

Reporters Committee for Freed

By Jackie Wattles, CNN

(CNN) — Four astronauts are about to make an abrupt exit from the International Space Station amid a health concern — and their unprecedented early departure will leave behind a bare-bones staff to look after the outpost.

When the crew boards the SpaceX capsule that will bring them home, only three people will remain on the orbiting laboratory: Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev of Russia and NASA astronaut Chris Williams.

The US space agency will livestream the departure of the SpaceX Crew capsule on NASA+ starting at 4:45 p.m. ET Wednesday, with the capsule set to undock from the space station around 5 p.m. ET.

It’s a less-than-ideal scenario. NASA has repeatedly signaled that keeping the ISS fully staffed is a top priority, as the agency aims to maximize the amount of scientific research it can conduct on the aging station before it’s permanently retired early next decade.

NASA’s new administrator, Jared Isaacman, made the decision last week to bring the four-person crew home early when the agency canceled a January 8 spacewalk slated to be carried out by American astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman.

“For over 60 years, NASA’s set the standard for safety and security in crewed spaceflight,” Isaacman said during a news conference last week. “In these endeavors, including the 25 years of continuous human presence on board the International Space Station, the health and the well-being of our astronauts is always and will be our highest priority.”

Fincke and Cardman, along with astronaut Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, are part of the Crew-11 mission that’s leaving the space station. NASA did not say which crew member is experiencing a medical concern — nor did the space agency provide any details about the nature of the condition, citing privacy concerns. However, NASA has said the affected astronaut is in stable condition.

“Everyone on board is stable, safe, and well cared for,” Fincke confirmed in a statement posted to LinkedIn. “This was a deliberate decision to allow the right medical evaluations to happen on the ground, where the full range of diagnostic capability exists. It’s the right call, even if it’s a bit bittersweet.”

The Crew-11 team is slated to splash down in the Pacific Ocean aboard the Crew Dragon capsule around 3:40 a.m. ET Thursday.

Meanwhile, NASA is working to expedite the launch of a replacement crew, called Crew-12, which originally had been slated for mid-February.

What an understaffed ISS means

The space station hasn’t had such a small crew on board in years. However, during a news conference last week, Amit Kshatriya, NASA’s associate administrator, noted that it’s not unprecedented.

Before SpaceX began routinely flying its Crew Dragon capsule on staffing rotation missions to the space station in 2020, NASA had to purchase seats on Russia’s Soyuz capsule for rides to the outpost for nearly a decade after th

By Lauren del Valle, Dakin Andone, CNN

(CNN) — The au pair who was having an extra-marital affair with Brendan Banfield when he allegedly killed his wife and another man in February 2023 resumed her pivotal testimony in Banfield’s double-murder trial Wednesday morning.

Juliana Peres Magalhães took the stand Tuesday, the first day of testimony, to describe the killings inside the Banfields’ Herndon, Virginia, home – and the elaborate scheme she said she and the defendant used to lure Joseph Ryan to the scene to frame him for the killing of Christine Banfield.

Prosecutors have said Banfield and Peres Magalhães reported the killings to police as if Ryan were an intruder who had stabbed Christine.

Peres Magalhães, who was initially charged with murder in the case in October 2023, has since pleaded guilty to a lesser count of involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting Ryan. She agreed to cooperate with prosecutors against Banfield in exchange for a recommendation she be sentenced to time served, according to the plea agreement.

Banfield has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated murder, as well as using a firearm during the commission of a felony. He faces up to life in prison if convicted on the murder charges.

On Wednesday, the prosecution continued questioning Peres Magalhães, asking her why she ultimately decided to plead guilty.

“The thought of being the right thing to do, I guess,” she testified. “The world deserved to know what really happened and I just couldn’t hold it – I just couldn’t keep it to myself, the feeling of shame and guilt and sadness and all those feelings.”

Peres Magalhães said she’s testifying against Banfield also because it opens the possibility of getting less prison time.

Later in the morning, Peres Magalhães began testifying under cross-examination.

On her first day of testimony, the Brazilian au pair said she started living with the Banfields in October 2021, and in August 2022, she and Brendan Banfield began their affair. Peres Magalhães testified Banfield began hatching his plan to kill his wife not long after.

He expressed a desire to be with Peres Magalhães instead, she testified, and he thought his wife to be a poor mother. He did not want to pay for a divorce, nor share custody of their young daughter, Peres Magalhães said.

Peres Magalhães said she and the defendant used Christine Banfield’s laptop to create a fake email address and an account on a fetish website. Banfield planned to find a man on the site who they could eventually frame for his wife’s murder, the au pair testified.

They specifically sought someone who would be willing to carry out a rape fantasy and they exchanged messages with multiple candidates for the alleged patsy, according to Peres Magalhães’ testimony and messages shown to jurors in court. Eventually, they found Ryan, who Banfield thought would “play the role that he needed a person to play,” Peres Magalhães said – meaning he would be “aggressive and hold her down and come over to the house and bring stuff.”

In her opening statements, prosecutor Jenna Sands said Banfield posed as his wife and gave Ryan specific instructions: “Christine will be as

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) — If what Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey are suggesting comes to pass, fans couldn’t be happier.

The “Wicked” stars on Wednesday jointly posted a photo of themselves on Instagram sitting in front of Georges Seurat’s famous painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.”

That masterpiece, painted from 1884 to 1886, was the inspiration for the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical “Sunday in the Park with George” and there is a report that Grande and Bailey will star in a London revival of the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine hit.

Deadline reported exclusively last month that the revival was in the early stages of planning and that multiple Tony Award and Olivier Award recipient Marianne Elliott was set to direct.

“All it has to be is good,” Bailey wrote in the caption of their Instagram photo, a key line from the musical, which revolves around Seurat creating his painting, further convincing people that the pair are set to work together again in the West End production.

The original production of the play opened off Broadway in 1983 starring Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin before moving to Broadway the following year.

It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1985 and also snagged two Tony Awards.

CNN has reached out to reps for Grande and Bailey for comment.

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