Irving Penn (1917-2009)

Irving Penn

Picasso, Canned, 1957

Irving Penn was one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. He worked and is very well known for fashion photography. He took many portrait photographs using original ideas that give each portrait a different character. As extraordinary his work is in every aspect of photography, the tools he used in order to create these photographs are also very authentic.

Irving Penn

Marcel Duchamp, 1948

For creating some full body portrait photographs, Irving Penn constructed a background in a studio made out of two walls connected to create a tight corner, and took photographs of people standing in the corner creating a great effect and an unusual photographic image.

Irving Penn

The empty plate, N.Y., October 14, 1949

His compositions of still life photographs are extraordinary and it is very interesting to see how he used to set up the objects in these photographs. It gives the viewer an insight to Irving Penn's point of view and his vision about his photographs.

There are countless articles dedicated on Irving Penn and worth a read. His work is a great example of how to have a different point of view and perception. Since his work is expanding in a very large scale and has to be given extra attention, I will be mentioning him in other posts in the future as well, but each time focusing on a specific field.

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