Richard Avedon - In the American West

My dissertation is looking at Richard Avedon and his work. Something I found when I was researching for this is a description of the printing process. I find this interesting and something that I will consider when printing my final images. As it stands I want to produce portrait images that focus on the subjects face. This would mean clean backgrounds. I don’t want anything to distract from the portrait. Here is a handy little tip that I thought might help/benefit me when I get to that stage in the darkroom. 

"the subject was exaggerated further through elaborate printing, and the negatives were even opaqued (with red lipstick of all materials) to remove even the slightest tones from the white backgrounds" 

The Contest of Meaning - Richard Bolton