Irving Penn’s Fashion Photography and Influence
Irving Penn. Chanel Feather Headdress (New York, September 19, 1994), 1996. MoCP Collection.
It was announced Wednesday, October 8 that fashion photography icon Irving Penn died in his home at the age of 92. In his work for Vogue magazine, Penn stripped his subjects of the ornate, decorative backgrounds that those in the fashion world had become accustomed to associating with high fashion photography. In his New York Times obituary, Andy Grundberg writes, “Instead of offering spontaneity, Mr. Penn provided the illusion of something fixed, his gaze precisely describing the profile of a Balenciaga coat or of a Moroccan djellaba in a way that could almost mesmerize the viewer” and noted that “nothing escaped the edges of his photographs unless he commanded it.”
Penn was also a master darkroom technician, constantly experimenting with ways to make his work interesting and new. He meticulously worked and re-worked his images using a platinum based chemistry process (different from that of traditional silver), which added depth and radiance to his images.
Irving Penn, New York. 1951. (Via the New York Times)
Pablo Picasso, Truman Capote, Georgia O’Keefe, and Miles Davis have all been photographed by Penn in his luminous, seemingly abstract style. However, it is his fashion work in Paris from the 1950s that is most loved because of its ability to “convey a knowledge of history, composition, and form; a respect for the beauty of women and the expressive quality of dress that has rarely been matched” (from the Boston Globe).
See more of Penn’s images.
Read more on Penn at the MoCP Collections page.
Comments (1)
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Posted by motor_mac on December 25, 2009 5:39 AM