The first photographic cover produced by Irving Penn for Vogue magazine appeared in October 1943. This milestone launched a career defined by an austere approach to portraiture, fashion, and still life. Throughout his life, he transitioned from graphic design to mastering complex printing processes, ultimately reshaping the aesthetic standards of twentieth-century commercial and fine art photography.
Early Education and Career Beginnings
Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1917, Penn attended Abraham Lincoln High School, where he received graphic design instruction from Leon Friend. He later studied drawing, painting, and industrial arts at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art, now known as The University of the Arts, graduating in 1938. Under the mentorship of Alexey Brodovitch, Penn contributed illustrations to Harper’s Bazaar. Following three years as a freelance designer, he served as art director at Saks Fifth Avenue in 1940. A subsequent period spent traveling through Mexico and the United States preceded his recruitment into the Vogue Art Department by Alexander Liberman.
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In 1944, Penn volunteered with the American Field Service rather than accepting a position with the Office of War Information in London. He arrived in Naples that November and provided ambulance support to the British Eighth Army during the winter in the Italian Apennines. He later moved to India in 1945, documenting medical operations and military life. Upon returning to New York later that year, he resumed his role at Vogue. During the 1950s, he established his own studio to manage independent advertising projects for clients such as General Foods, De Beers, Issey Miyake, and Clinique.
Technique and Artistic Development
Penn was noted for posing subjects against simple grey or white backdrops to eliminate distracting elements. This minimalist strategy allowed for precise control over natural lighting. Among his notable portraits were Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Martha Graham, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Starting in 1964, he returned to the labor-intensive platinum printing process. By hand-coating paper and utilizing multiple exposures, he sought to overcome the limitations of standard reproduction. His still life work focused on the arrangement of objects such as bottles, bones, and food to explore abstract relationships between volume and line.
Fast facts
- Born: 1917, Plainfield, New Jersey
- Died: 2009, Manhattan
- Education: Abraham Lincoln High School; The University of the Arts
- First Vogue cover: October 1943
- Spouse: Lisa Fonssagrives (married 1950)
- Son: Tom Penn
- Awards: Hasselblad Award (1985)
Questions readers ask
What subjects did Penn photograph?
His repertoire included fashion photography, portraits of artists, ethnographic studies, and still life compositions featuring found objects and food.
What was the platinum printing process?
It was an antiquated method involving hand-coated paper and contact printing that allowed Penn to achieve a deep grayscale and greater print depth.
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