Irving Penn is known for his portrait, fashion, and still life photography. He often featured models and celebrities in his work for Vogue magazine. His portraits focused on the subject's face and shoulders, and were likely taken in a studio given the controlled lighting. Penn likely used a fast shutter speed to capture his subjects in the studio lighting without blur or overexposure. The portraits have a narrow depth of field, keeping the subject in focus while blurring the background. Overall, the black and white images emphasize details of the face, though one photo with a brighter background distracted from the model.

1. Unit 57: Photography and
PhotographicPractice
Research of other photographers
work (P1, M1, D1)
Photographer: Irving Penn

3. Theme or focus of images
The photographer I chose for Portrait was Irving Penn, he is known for his fashion
photography, still life and most important portrait photography. Some of his work has
been featured in Vogue Magazine, Issey Miyake and Clinique. When looking at this
work; because he is a portrait photographer like I mentioned before most of his
photos feature the model/celebrity’s face. I am not entirely sure when these photos
were shot because I didn’t find them off the photographers website itself. By looking
at all the photos and comparing them in general the pictures were most definitely
taken in a studio this is possibly because you can create your own light and get the
image to look how you really want it.
Composition
As I mentioned above Irving Penn is a portrait photographer, so when he decides
what to get in shot he always go’s for the face (obviously) and even the shoulders
and chest. If Irving had zoomed out or stood further away the additional information
which we could see from the picture could be that we get a grasp of what is going
on behind the model or even what location or setting the model is in. From looking at
the photos I have chosen the models are most definitely in a studio setting.
Techniques used
When it comes to shutter speed with these photos I think that the shutter speed was
quite fast to capture the model in the light. It would have been done on a fast shutter
speed because if it was a slow shutter speed the camera would let too much light in
and cause the image to be overexposed and also cause camera blur. When rule of
third applies to these photos I think some do and some don’t because of the position
of the model in the frame. Now finally onto depth of field, because these are portrait
shots the depth of field would be quite narrow because of how close the
photographer is to the subject.
Strengths & Weaknesses
When it comes to strengths with Irving’s work, I think that the black and white images
work exceptionally well and I love the effect that it gives. I also love that how he
focuses on the face and brings out so much detail from just a picture. Now onto
weaknesses, the only thing I didn’t like about the photos above was the very last one.
The background is a lot lighter than the other ones and I think it takes the attention
from the model because of the brightness. I most definitely prefer the darker
backgrounds compared to the lighter ones.