Personal Life
Penn was born in Plainfield, New Jersey on June 16, 1917. He died on October 7,2009 in New York City. . Although he was celebrated as one of Vogue magazine's top photographers for more than sixty years, Penn was an intensely private man who avoided the limelight and pursued his work with quiet and relentless dedication. After the Second World War, as Penn quickly developed a reputation for his striking style in still life and portraiture.
Style of Work
Penn's work carefully combines clarity, composition, careful arrangement of objects or people, form, and the use of light. The subjects of his prints vary greatly; and because of this some of his works were so ahead of their time that they only came to be appreciated in more modern times.
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Quotes from Penn
"I myself have always stood in the awe of the camera. I recognize it for the instrument it is, part Stradivarius, part scalpel."
"The photographic process for me, is primarily simplification and elimination."
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"The modern photographer is not at all a snob, he brings equal interest and devotion to the problem of photographing a queen, a chair, a fashion model, a solider, a horse, he finds something of himself in everything and something of everything in himself."
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What Others Have Said About His Work
"... Only then is it clear how everything he photographs - or, at least, prints - is the product of a remarkably undivided conscience. There are no breaks; only different subjects."
Critic, Richard Woodard |
At the root of every Penn photograph of my clothing is the point of view that singles out the essence of the design."
Issey Miyake |
Influences on the Artist
Artists
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Movements
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Influence on the Industry
Artists
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Movements
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Favourite Photographs
The portraits above taken by Penn show beautiful composition and use of lighting and shadow. I would like to try and recreate the antique look of these images.