Irving Penn RIP

Irving Penn was one the the most versatile photographers of the 20th century, bringing his minimalist style to subjects as diverse as designer frocks, New Guinea tribesmen, Parisian pompiers, London dustmen, nudes, Hell’s Angels, famous artists, celebrities, cigarette ends, rotting fruit and cosmetic products. Over five decades he contributed more than 150 cover photographs for Vogue. Only Richard Avedon is held in the same esteem as a fashion photographer

One of his favourite methods was to shoot his subjects in a tight angular space, thus provoking a reaction. A famous photograph of Truman Capote, taken in New York in 1948, shows him scrunched up in the corner of a room, his knees pressed into the back of a stool, looking more like a Francis Bacon gargoyle than a celebrity author. “This confinement surprisingly seemed to comfort people,” Penn said. “It soothed them. The walls were a surface to lean on or push against.”