and then, and then: Irving Penn

Showing posts with label Irving Penn. Show all posts

13 April 2010

Irving Penn's Beauties

Linda!

Christy and Cindy!

Those were truly the days. The supers in October 1987, Vogue.

13 November 2009

Supermodel: Karen Graham

Francesco Scavullo, Dec 1975

The letter, 1976

The Russian dolls, 1977

Her signature nose, 1980

I think my first ever supermodel crush was Karen Graham of the classic Estee Lauder ads. Ms Graham (born 1945, Mississippi) remains a model's model. For 15 years, she was the face of Estee Lauder, and I grew up staring at her face in those iconic ads in Vogue. She studied French at the Sorbonne in Paris, and later moved to New York City to be a French teacher. In 1969, while at the Bonwit Teller, she met the mother of all modeling agents, Eileen Ford, and the rest became modelling history. Ms Graham's early work included a shoot for Irving Penn; Her first appearance in Vogue was in 1970, and she became a supermodel when Grace Mirabella, then Vogue editor put her on the magazine's cover 20 times between 1970 and 1975. Her status as a legendary model was set, however, with the Estee Lauder ads. Beginning intermittently in 1970 and 1971, to appear in their print ads, she started working with photographer Victor Skrebneski. In 1973, she became Estee Lauder's exclusive spokesmodel. It was a job she would do for the rest of the decade, appearing in print and television ads that presented her in tasteful, luxurious, all-American tableaux - to represent the high WASP image the Estee Lauder was creating.
Graham quit in 1985, when she turned 40, and was succeeded by Willow Bay (thought to be a look-alike). In 1999, she returned to model for Estee Lauder (Resilience Lift), and this lasted for a few years; Victor Skrebneski returned to shoot the ads after leaving in 1993.

Ms Graham now lives in the foothills of North Carolina. In addition to fly fishing, she is keen on horseback riding.

25 October 2009

Irving Penn's Vanity Fair Covers

Italo Calvino, Aug 1983

Philip Roth, Sep 1983

Francine du Plessix Gray (what a name!), Nov 1983

Woody Allen (as Groucho Marx), Dec 1983

Hanna Schygulla, Jan 1984

In 1983, Irving Penn provided six successive Vanity Fair covers. Looking at them, one is immediately struck by their serious tone and intent, compared to what we see now, the magazines looked austere, dignified, important, not the glossy throwaway things we have come to disregard. Times have certainly changed, and in terms of magazines, not for the better, I might add.

13 October 2009

He Said She Said: Irving Penn

"Many photographers feel their client is their subject. My client is a woman in Kansas who reads Vogue. I'm trying to intrigue, stimulate, feed her. The severe portrait that is not the greatest joy in the world to the subject may be enormously interesting to the reader."

- Irving Penn

(Portrait of Colette)

Irving Penn's Studio

Irving Penn's makeshift studio in Paris, 1950.

12 October 2009

Irving Penn 1917 - 2009

I feel keenly the loss of Irving Penn, the last of the great three photographers (together Helmut Newton and Richard Avedon), who died last week age 92. It really is the end of an era. Look around - who do we have left? Bruce Weber, I guess. Steven Meisel? Too much of a fashion photographer, which is no bad thing, but painting on a limited canvas, never quite approaches art. Mr Penn had scope. I can't imagine not being able to see new Irving Penn work in Vogue. Very, very sad.

Photo: Chocolate Mouth, 2000

14 September 2009

Small Trades

Working in Paris, London, and New York in the early 1950s, photographer Irving Penn (born 1917) created images of tradespeople dressed in work clothes and carrying their tools. A neutral backdrop and natural light allowed his subjects to present themselves with dignity. Penn revisited his Small Trades series over many decades. In 2008 the Getty Museum acquired the most comprehensive group of these images, carefully selected by the photographer, which are now on show. Mr Penn is renowned for his contributions to portrait, still life, and fashion photography, and a career that has spanned more than six decades at Vogue. In 1950, Vogue assigned Penn to photograph workers in Paris, and thus this monumental work began. Capturing the humble coal heaver and the crisply dressed waiter with equal directness, Penn's portraits underscore cultural differences. Two hundred six unique images from the series are flawlessly reproduced in the new book. In addition, the introductory essay describes the history and context of The Small Trades series and its importance to Penn's career and the history of photography. An interview with Edmonde Charles-Roux, the chief editor for French Vogue from 1952 to 1966, who assisted him on the assignment in Paris, provides fascinating insights of the Paris sittings.

14 June 2009

Magazines Are Precious Things

"“Magazines are precious things,” as (Alexander) Liberman sometimes told editors. They require pampering and purity and, not incidentally, money. Liberman tore up layouts at the last minute and counseled editors to spend, spend, spend, because spending, too, was part of the aesthetic, almost an end in itself.

"“There’s no place on Earth like this,” (Graydon) Carter tells me. “There’s no place where you’re given the resources you need to do what you want to do and also given complete freedom to do it.” A short time ago, Carter says, he offered (Si) Newhouse some possible economies. “I tried to bring up money with him,” he explains. “I had some ways of cutting expenses around photo shoots. He just didn’t want to hear it. He got all uncomfortable. Si said, ‘Just make sure there’s nothing that can hurt the magazine.’ In my lunches with Si, you wouldn’t know that there’s anything different from 2002, 1996, 1992.”"

- New York

Mr and Mrs Alexander Liberman, and thier daughter Francine du Plessix Gray, shot by Irving Penn in 1948.

03 April 2009

Style

"Style is a simple way of saying complicated things." - Jean Cocteau
The portrait is by Irving Penn of course. Cocteau was very proud of his elegant hands...