Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Exercise #1 Irving Penn: Ashley Braun


How did this photographer get started in his work?:
Irving Penn started his career by initially intending to become a painter but in the 1940's, he worked for Vogue magazine which ultimately changed his ideal focus to photography. He studied at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art with Alexey Brodovitch (1898–1971), who decided to published his drawings in Harper’s Bazaar in the late 1930s
www.biography.com/people/irving-penn-40637  
 www.artfact.com/artist/penn-irving-gryc9gmbxr


What is this photographer most well known for?
Penn shot fashion photography for Vogue magazine after returning to the US and produced a lot of book/magazine covers (about 100). He started to make portraits of writers, dancers, etc. The photographs are well noted for their subject of line which is followed by the elegance of quality and lighting with radically minimal settings.
www.artfact.com/artist/penn-irving-gryc9gmbxr

Describe the photographer's primary subject matter:
He mostly shot fashion photography in natural light with people/models and/or objects in front of a blank background to convey contrast with an almost ethnographical directness.
www.artfact.com/artist/penn-irving-gryc9gmbxr


What about his work do you find interesting?:
Penn has been through a lot in his life as to what he truly wanted to be and what I find interesting is that all or most of his photographs are in natural light even though they might have been altered but I highly doubt it. What I really find that is fascinating is that he can express so much emotion and cram it into an emptiness of a beautiful photograph.

How would you describe his visual style?:
I would describe his work as defiant with enough calmness and classiness. Great elegance of shown beauty and hidden fixtures that could be proven to be something that it is not.


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