Irving Penn
A Career in Photography
Description:... Irving Penn described himself as a photo-journalist, but that term cannot encompass the many different genres of photography in which he excelled. He began his career in the arts as a graphic artist studying with Alexey Brodovitch, then spent a year painting in Mexico and returned to New York City to work at Vogue where Alexander Liberman was art director. It was not long before he turned to photography, using his graphic sense to make stylish images and his sensitivity to make telling portraits of celebrities. His photographs have become documents of this century, from the portraits of the native peoples of Peru, New Guinea and Morocco to his portraits of artists and writers, from sharply stylish fashion editorials to evanescent nudes, and from skillful still-lifes of trash to gravity-defying still-lifes of Clinique cosmetics. This publication accompanies an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago celebrating Irving Penn's donation to the museum of his professional archives along with a set of prints representing his life's work. The purpose of the exhibition is to call attention to the opportunity the archive will provide for studying this unique and essential 20th-century photographer. The publication, which includes remembrances and reflections on his work written by people with whom Penn has collaborated over the years, is a unique record of Penn's achievement. An introductory essay by Colin Westerbeck provides an overview of Penn's career.
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