Irving Penn was an American photographer (1917-2009) known for his fashion photography, portraits, photographic travel essays and still lifes. Penn worked for Vogue throughout his career shooting covers, portraits, fashion and photographic essays. In the 1950Ís he founded his own studio in NYC and began making advertising photographs for clients such as Issey Miyake and Clinique. PennÍs photographs are composed with great attention to detail. His black and white prints are notable for their deep contrast, giving them a clean, crisp look.
Penn was among the first photographers to pose subjects against a simple grey or white backdrop and he effectively used this simplicity. Subjects photographed with this technique included Martha Graham, Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Georgia OÍKeeffe, W. H. Auden, and Igor Stravinsky.
This photograph of Jean Cocteau by Irving Penn was taken in Paris and dated 1948.
Photograph: 47cm (Width) x 53cm (Height)
Frame: 76cm (Width) x 81cm (Height)
