Irving Penn

Hello Charlie !
This my first article on the blog and I have chosen to write about a famous American photographer whose work I really appreciate: Irving Penn.
Born in 1917, he died in 2009 ( not so long ago ).
The first time I heard of him was in Berlin. Like all good tourists, my mother and I were looking  for an exhibition to visit. And we fell on a little leaflet praising Irving's exhibition. We went to this exhibition and it was ( not exagerating ) my discovery of the year.
Irving Penn made me appreciate photography.
What is more, Penn was a very interesting man. He travelled around the world to make portraits of different ethnic groups. He went from countries to countries and  improvised a studio asking natives if they wanted a portrait. People posed for him in their favourite clothes; he named his project "the Worlds in a Small Room" project.

       I really took to the black and white shades he used in each picture.

 He is also known for his fashion photography. From 1943 to the early 1970s, he worked for glorious Vogue Magazine issues and most of the time used as a background an old theater curtain to photograph dozens of models.

In his studio he met her future wife : Lisa Fonssagrives, one of the most sought-after fashion models of the time:

               Lisa Fonssagrives


 
   

A major part of Penn's work for Vogue consisted of portraits of celebrities, artists, writers, and other personalities. For his sitters, Penn set up unusual environments in the studio: a constricted corner made of two walls placed at an angle, a shredded carpet draped over a solid base they could sit on...
Penn's goal was to observe how these well-known figures would react to this curious setting:

 
Leontyne Price           Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight      Truman Capote

 To me, these pictures are innovative and an inpiration for contemporary photographers.
I hope that you enjoyed reading my article and that it made you discover Irving Penn.
Rochelle.