For the majority of fashion enthusiasts, Irving Penn is the first modern photographer whose name left an indelible mark with his instantly recognisable style. His gutsy use of dishevelled bar stools and props combined with couture-clad models in opulent Balenciaga and decadent Dior soon became a much-welcomed alternative to the ostentatious backdrops and awkward poses of the early and mid-20th Century.
As such, Penn injected a heaving dose of contemporary realism into America’s fashion industry and, not long afterwards, the world’s genteel society. The New Jersey-born photographer began photographing portraits of notable figures in 1944, and although arguably best known for his dramatic snapshots that accompanied features on beauty and health, over the course of his 70-year career his contrasting textures and use of bold colours were considered so outrageous that Edna Woolman Chase, editor of American Vogue during the first half of the 20th Century, commented that his photos “burned through the page”.
Now, the Metropolitan Museum of Art will present a major retrospective of Penn’s images to mark the centennial of his birth. The most comprehensive exhibition of the photographer’s work to date, Irving Penn: Centennial will include both masterpieces and unknown prints from all his major series. First and foremost a fashion photographer (his early shots of couture established a new and exceptional standard for mid-century fashion publications), Penn was also blessed with an intelligence and sensitivity that, thanks to museums including the Metropolitan of Art, continues to inspire and influence today.
Irving Penn: Centennial runs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, until July 30, 2017
