Nominated as one of our World’s 10 Greatest Photographers, Irving Penn revealed his life story with the V Magazine. Irving Penn, born in June 16, 1917 started studying arts from an early age. Penn revealed that his paintings and drawings were published by Harper’s Bazaar for two years and has worked as an office boy and apprentice artist. He added on his experience working at Vogue magazine.
Penn continued on his story to his early career when his fame started to spread. During his assistant years with Alexander Liberman, he has gained a lot of recognition from Liberman and his one photograph as an assistant was published as the cover for Vogue magazine. This photograph, according to Penn, “launched [him] on his photographic career.”
At Vogue, he shot a lot of fashion photography and eventually founded his own studio in 1953, developing his own style of simplicity. Many depict his style to be d
istinct where there is a subject in front of a monotone backdrop or an acute corner. When asked about his technique using the corners, Penn answered that the technique is “a mean of closing people in,” and added that some felt secure and some felt trapped in the corners. He was able to capture their reactions on his photographs. He added “I am a professional photographer because it is the best way I know to earn the money I require to take care of my wife and children.”
The above photograph is one of his latest works from his project and in this picture, he once again has used his typical technique of corner. When asked about the photograph, Penn responded, "If you see closely, the model's posture looks a bit awkward. His right arm is too far up. However his facial expression and posture all emanate a sense of isolation and loneliness. This sense goes very well with the use of corners, as he felt trapped in by the corners."
Penn has had many exhibitions, including Metropolitan Museum of A
rt, National Gallery of Art, J.Paul getty Museum and most recently National Portrait Gallery in London.
Original Photograph by Irving Penn
No comments:
Post a Comment