photography master Irving Penn died yesterday, oct 7, at age of 92. Known for his long-term collaboration with Vogue magazine, Penn turned fashion photography on it's head with his at-the-time revolutionary and modernist approach of shooting his models against plain backgrounds. Penn's work was elegant and refined. he applied the same less-is-more approach to most all of his subjects, be it still life or portrait, and gave reverence to whatever he photographed, even cigarette butts on the street. Penn's work was pervasive and influential, and the fact that most of us wouldn't think twice today about seeing a subject against a plain background is testament to his influence.
RIP, Mr. Penn. Thank you for the inspiration.
Penn's first cover for Vogue. Oct, 1943
Vogue Cover Summer 1946
Vogue Cover, 1951
Pablo Picasso
Street Findings, 1999
Penn's portrait of the beautiful Nadja Auermann
and the incomparable Kate Moss
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