For a work or style in photography to be effectively considered something flashy enough, it must actually meet at least two requirements: the exclusivity or even the execution of something known but with a perfection never seen before With a photo or a way to represent the world in With these characteristics, the possibility of being unforgettable increases considerably.
But what happens when a professional who did not have such an intention at the beginning of his career in something outside the world exclusively of photography can reach these two levels and can even inspire a full exhibition in his honor?That’s what happened to American Irving Penn, who, if he were alive, would turn 100 in 2017.
- Despite an almost millimeter level of detail in some of his images.
- Especially when referring to the naked human body (one of the passions).
- The New Jersey-born professional came to declare that?Realism of the real world is almost unbearable to me?As a result.
- His effort was such that.
- Even putting before those who see his works portraits of the real world.
- Artistic elements that can only be achieved through manipulation demonstrate their “special touch” in photographs.
In love with differences and a clear defender of an egalitarian world in the face of the most different peoples and customs, Irving Penn has traveled to the ends of the planet such as Guinea, on the African continent, to explore increasingly interesting and coherent visions. with his intention to place, with the same click of his camera, real and fantasy elements.
However, this does not exactly mean that the former film producer has had throughout his career the freedom (or even intent) to make images absolutely happy or even in an atmosphere of joy. So much so that, in a work done in the late 1940s, Penn insisted on placing an ancient curtain and an absolutely neutral background with gray colors and, from there, taking photographs with expressions more focused on the depressive aspect.
Despite the pleasure of representing models with these variations of humor and realism, another highlight of the photographic features captured by Irving Penn’s lenses were the images of the so-called still life, clearly assuming that he felt more comfortable in a studio than anywhere else. Irving Penn liked to have complete control of the situation and went so far as to state that “inanimate objects are good, safe and easy to control and do not bother at all. “