Irving Penn

by John Szarkowski

One of the most distinguished practitioners of portrait and fashion photography of the mid-twentieth century, Irving Penn's work is identified by its refinement of craft, by the wit and grace of its formal invention, and by its sensitivity to the quality and character of light. Backed by Vogue magazine, Penn brought a classic economy and concentration to the overblown world of fashion photography, to portraits of artists, writers, and theater people, and to ethnographic studies of style and ornament in little-known corners of West Africa, Nepal, Peru, and New Guinea. This book, published in conjunction with an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, is the first comprehensive retrospective of Penn's work. The essay by John Szarkowski follows a brilliant career, from its art-school beginnings to the provocative still lifes, photographs of cigarette butts and street detritus--works of eloquence and classical rectitude, made from the least consequential of subject matter.--From publisher