Irving Penn

 Irving Penn

Irving Penn is an American photographer who was born in New Jersey in 1917. He was most well known for his portraits and fashion photography and worked at many places including Vogue. He studied graphic design in high school and then went on to study at what is now the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He studied drawing, painting, graphic design, and more. He really stepped into the photography world after working at Vogue for a few years and being asked to do some shoots for them (Wikipedia).

   The first portrait I am choosing to talk about by Irving Penn is this one. One thing Penn really mastered in his time as a photographer was his ability to pose his subjects in a way that really captivated the attention of the audience. This picture specifically I think is posed really interestingly and the hand positions of this subject really cause me to focus on her face. Not only do they act as an outline to her face in a way by cupping it but additionally, they are posed in a unique that makes you wonder if she is stressed or if something if something else is causing her to hold her face like that.


The second portrait of Irving Penn’s I am choosing to talk about is this one. I again thought that his posing was really interesting. He just does a really good job telling his subject what to do and I personally struggle with posing my subjects and making them look interesting so I think that it’s impressive when any photographer can do it. I also really love how this photo is almost all grey but it still has such strong lights and darks and intense contrast even though grey is the overpowering color in it. I also think the extreme darkness on the side of his face makes the photo more intriguing because it makes the audience wonder if there’s a deeper meaning.


Overall I think Irving Penn’s photography is really quite impressive. It’s obvious when looking at his photos that he is excellent at making his subjects feel comfortable and is really well-versed in knowing how to pose them in interesting ways. He also just did a great job at making these pictures good quality, despite camera technology being so new and not as refined as it is today.


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