On October 7, 2009, the world lost one of the greats – Irving Penn. He was known for fashion photography, still lives, and his portraits of famous people starkly photographed, bringing out their vulnerabilites instead of just celebrity. He also photographed men and women from the world of everyday work, again, starkly photographed in front of bare gray backgrounds or corners he built himself.
In these tightly constructed corners, Penn could capture the essence of a person.
In the 1960s Penn began hauling these “corners” and the stark backgrounds around the world to photograph natives in New Guinea, Cameroon, and even groups of people in the United States who fit the “tribal” description – hippies and Hell’s Angels.
(It’s hard to believe, but in the beginning hippies did walk around in interesting regalia. I know – I was there.)
His still lives were masterfully created and beautifully photographed.
I’ve been thinking a great deal about still lives as they are one of my favorite subjects in painting, and I’d like to create some to photograph. I’m not sure that I can – this is going to take a great deal of thought and experimenting. The balance in this still life of Penns is perfection.
Penn revolutionized fashion photography, again by using a stark style.
And the photos of everyday occupations really took on new meanings. People dressed for work but removed from the work environment make for compelling portraits.
There is an exhibit at the Getty Center of Penn’s work – mounted before his death. It runs through January 10 so if you are anywhere near the Los Angeles area, it will be worth seeing. It’s called Small Trades and features photos such as the last three.
There are so many sites on the web where you can view Penn’s work and read about his life that I’m not going to link to any. Just google Irving Penn. However, you can get a head start at good old wikipedia.
