Irving Penn 

Photography research, i was told to research Irving Penn as my work relates to her images.

I'm just going to add some background information on Penn and his work. Born 1917- 2009 and was an American Photographer who did a lot of work for Vogue. He is famous for his portraits, fashion images and still life. He took images on a white of grey backdrop and he is known for his sharp crisp black and white images. Below, are images of food which Penn took, there all slightly different. 

The first two images are so strange as Penn has put food together that you would relate with each other and composed them in an unusual way. For example image one, is a piece of raw steak with two raw eggs, butter and a crinkled crisp. The title of the image is "Cholesterol Revenge"  i think this tells a bit of a story to the image to why he used these foods and photographed them and it was because they can give you a high cholesterol.  I like the image as its so strange its like a modern way of still life as the lighting is high and from above with a grey back drop and using food you wouldn't normally see. Image two, for me is still very strange with a big piece of cheese with green goo poring out and an apple and a beetle on top. The way the image is set out is the same as the above but i still think it is like a modern version of still like it is so strange but interesting and amusing. I would love to know his train of thought when taking these images and to what made him use these objects in the way he has. 

These two above images are more staged in my opinion as it looks like a lot of thought has gone into the composition. The third image is taken at more eye level than the others and this gives the look more of a still life image as the forth image is taken looking down which i think you need to to see everything in the frame. I do like this idea there is more going on and there is cutlery used giving an affect in my opinion as it is objects been placed by anyone anywhere in an busy environment and then been photographed. 

This image above is very different to the others it is on one food which is an apple but there is a lot of  them and has been arranged into a rectangle to photograph. I like how the image is out of the ordinary and is not just a close up of an apple and is lots of apples taken from above showing the different textures and colours. 

I love this idea so much the texture and colours are so pleasing and unusual. These series of images was called "frozen vegetables" Penn put vegetables in a tub and added a little water and arranged them to be frozen then took the images.  The way he has staked them up is interesting as it creates a tower of food which you wouldn't be able to do if it wasn't frozen which i find interesting . 

Here are more images of Penn's work taken earlier in his career is of still life. I like how theses images are taken in black and white and taken on a white background which really makes the objects stand out even more. It does look like Penn crammed all the objects as close together as he possible could to fit in the frame. Usually with other still life images the objects are arranged to make the image have depth and the lighting which is usully low and from one side gives the impression the objects are 3D but these images seem very flat which i think works with the objects so close together.  

Here are images of other objects Penn has taken. Image one is of a scrunched up paper towel and like the others they are in black and white taken on either white of grey backgrounds with strong contrast in each image. I like for example the image with the paper towel it has small debris from the objects which has fallen off and is around the object on the floor. 

This image is of burnt cigarette and a packet below i like the close up of the cigarette it really lets you see the texture of  the burnt paper. 

This image is of a glove i love how it looks how Penn actually found it. The dirt and debris loos so realistic it looks strange to see it been in a studio on a white background and not in the street where it was probably found. This is what my class mates feedback said that they would like to see a image of where the object was found. These images  of cigarette ends he took these images and printed them on such a large scale that you could see detail on them that you couldn't before for example stains and grit that had entered the cigarette after been on the floor. 

I love these above ages of all the cigarettes found on the street Penn apparently asked his assistant to gather what cigarette ends they could from the street. Like the other image he photographs them separately but the ones above are place to fit in the frame and to show the mass amount of cigarettes they are.