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Irving Penn
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Irving Penn (born 16 June 1917) is an
American photographer known for his portraiture and fashion photography.
Irving Penn studied under Alexey Brodovitch at the Philadelphia Museum
School from which he graduated in 1938. Penn's drawings were published by
Harper's Bazaar and he also painted. As his career in photography
blossomed, he became known for post World War II feminine chic and glamour
photography.
Penn has worked for many years doing fashion photography for Vogue
magazine. He was among the first photographers to pose subjects against a
simple grey or white backdrop and used this simplicity more effectively
than other photographers. Expanding his austere studio surroundings, Penn
constructed a set of upright angled backdrops, to form a stark, acute
corner. Posing his subjects within this tight, unorthodox space, Penn
brought an unprecedented sense of drama to his portraits, driving the
viewer's focus onto the person and their expression. In many photos, the
subjects appeared wedged into the corner. Subjects photographed with this
technique included Martha Graham, Marcel Duchamp, Georgia O'Keeffe, W. H.
Auden, Igor Stravinsky and Marlene Dietrich.
While a master of the studio flash, most of Penn's portraits are lighted
with window light. For travelling to New Guinea and other locations to
photograph indigenous people, Penn created a portable studio with a
skylight deployed facing north with impressive results. These pictures had
the same feel as his portraits of celebrities; fully adorned, naturally
lighted, yet placed before the neutral backdrop, his tribal subjects
appear as strangely defined models for a 19-century ethnographic
investigation.
In 1950, Penn married his favorite model, Lisa Fonssagrives and he founded
his studio in 1953. They have one son together, who is named Tom.
Clarity, composition, careful arrangement of objects or people, form, and
the use of light characterize Penn's work. Penn also photographs still
life objects and found objects in unusual arrangements with great detail
and clarity.
While his prints are always clean and clear, Penn's subjects vary widely.
Many times his photographs are so ahead of their time that they only came
to be appreciated as important works in the modernist canon years after
their creation. For example, a series of posed nudes whose physical shapes
range from thin to plump were shot in 1949-1950, but were not exhibited
until 1980.
His still life compositions are skilfully arranged assemblages of food or
objects; at once spare and highly organized, the objects are raised to a
graphic perfection, articulating the abstract interplay of line and
volume.
He has published numerous books including the recent, "A Notebook at
Random" which offers a generous selection of photographs, paintings, and
documents of his working methods. Penn's wife, Lisa Fonssagrives, died in
1992.
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Kate Moss
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Kate Moss (Hand on Neck), New York
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Pablo Picasso
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Truman Capote
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John Osborne
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S. Perelman
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Lion Skull
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Tulip
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Black and white Vogue cover
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Untitled
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Colette
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New Guinea
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New Guinea
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New Guinea
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New Guinea
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New Guinea
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Morocco
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Morocco
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Untitled
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Two Guedras, Morocco
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Untitled
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Sanett Newman
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James Van Der Zee
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C. Levi-Strauss
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Jean Cocteau
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Alberto Giacometti
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Still Life with
Watermelon
New York, c. 1947
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Untitled
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After-dinner Games
New York, 1947
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Woman
with Roses (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn in Lafaurie Dress), Paris,
1950
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Nude No. 1, 1947
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Ballet Society,
New York, 1948
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Ballet Theater
New York, 1947
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Mrs. Amory Carhart
New York 1947
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Salad Ingredients
New York, 1947
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Summer Sleep
New York, 1949
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Nude 119, 1949
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Bouchers
Paris, 1950
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Tennessee Williams
New York, 1951
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Three Asaro Mud Men
New Guinea, 1970
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Man with Pink Face
New Guinea, 1970
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Three Rissani Women
1971
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Cigarette 17
New York, 1972
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Street Findings
New York, 1999
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Hell's
Angels, San Francisco
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Spilled Cream
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Mermaid Dress
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Moroccan Palace
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Cuzco children
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Harlequin dress -
Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn, New York
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Sunny Harnett
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Iceland Poppy, New York
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Rock Groups (Big Brother
and the Holding Company and The Grateful Dead), San Francisco
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Hippie Group, San Francisco
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Marlene Dietrich
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Cafe in Lima
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Black and White Handbag
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Girl in Bed
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Sitting Man with Pink Face
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Woman with Fan
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Dorian Leigh and
Maurice Tillet
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Woman with Umbrella
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Diane von Furstenberg for Vogue
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