The document discusses Irving Penn's career as a photographer for Vogue magazine from the 1940s-1960s. It notes that Penn began his career in graphic design before becoming a photographer. In the 1940s, Penn began taking monochrome portraits for Vogue covers and developed his signature style of minimalist portraits. Throughout his career, Penn experimented with lighting, printing techniques, and manipulating prints. He was known for portraits of celebrities as well as everyday people. Penn worked as a photographer until his death in 2009 at age 92.

1. READING
PHOTOGRAPHS
Abygail Jones

2. Chosen application?
• I have chosen to use the ‘Portraiture’ application
• This will involve taking pictures of people, focusing on
their:
• Facial features
• Expressions
• I will be attempting to take the creative approach – using
artificial lighting, editing and manipulating the image.

3. Irving Penn (1917 – 2009)
Irving Penn was born in New Jersey, 1917. At the age of 19 he went
to the University of Arts in Philadelphia to study: painting, drawing
and graphic design, in 1938, once he had finished his studies he
moved to New York to work as a freelance designer and illustrator.
He later left New York and his job as an advertising director in 1940
to become a painter however, after 3 years, Penn returned to both
New York and a new job as an assistant designer to a Russian Vogue
art director, Alexander Liberman. The first task he was assigned to
was supervising the covers of Vogue magazine.
October 1943, Irving Penn’s photograph of various accessories such
as a glove and a bag appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine.
This was the beginning of around 150 Vogue covers featuring Penn’s
photographs.
1944 was the start of Penn’s monochrome portraits with the artist,
Giorgio de Chirico as his model. Penn was one of the Vogue readers’
favourite artists with his skillset to make an image both calm and
classy.
Although he was famous for photographing models and celebrities,
he was completely comfortable with photographing people of a lower
class.
Penn also experimented in the dark room – for example: he bleached
prints to eliminate skin tones. Around the 60’s, he learned how to
print pictures on platinum rather than relying on silver to produce a
more realistic tone.
October 7th 2009, Irving Penn passed away at the age of 92 in his
own home.

4. The woman is the main focus – she
is the only thing standing out in this
photo
Expressive – smiling
slightly – looks calm
Posed – the subject has been told
how to pose, how to stand –
probably told what expression to
have
The vantage point is from straight
on – it’s not low down or high up
It’s a portrait – it’s from the
shoulders upwards
The background isn’t clear –
the subject is the focus of this
photograph therefore the
subject is the main focus
The light seems natural – it looks like
you can see windows from the
reflection in the subject’s sunglasses
– proving this further - there is
shadows on the side that isn’t faced
towards the window. The light is also
soft, not harsh.
Geometric shapes?
Circular sunglasses
This image seems to have been
taken in some form of studio –
whether that is a home studio or
in some form of building.
Monochrome – the picture is
in black and white, the
contrasts seemed to have
been played around with –
Irvin was known to do this.
Quite passive – there isn’t
a lot of visual information
in this photo – it’s pretty
much just a portrait,
there’s nothing too special
about it
Got a form of dynamic range – it
starts from the very lightest (the
background or the hat) to the
darkest (her hair, her back)
The background isn’t prominent –
it’s quite passive, there isn’t
anything eye catching about it –
it’s just a plain white background
For a magazine cover?
For a gallery?
This was Penn’s job – to
take photographs of
models/subjects for Vogue’s
cover
Contrast is just black and white –
although there is quite a high level
of grey
There is quite a distinct outline
around the subject – whether that is
because she is against a white
background or because the
colour/contrast has been messed
with

5. Intention? The reason behind
most of Irving’s photographs
is to use on the cover of
Vogue magazine or to be
used in Vogue
The main object of the
photograph is the woman –
which is actually Irving’s
wife.
The photograph is definitely
posed – the subject has
been told how to pose, what
emotions to show – if any
The most highlighted is the
left side of her face – this
could be to diminish any
blemishes, could be to have
a desired effect – could be to
show off how beautiful the
subject is in either light?
The background isn’t very prominent
in this image, the subject is the focus,
she stands out more than the rest of
the picture.
The dominant area in
this photograph is
obviously the woman as
the image is a portrait
Emotions? The subject
isn’t really showing any
real emotion – she is just
looking in to the camera
The whole subject is the
more clear part of the
photo – the background
is less in focus than the
subject.
There is quite a lot of low
key here – there is some
rather dark shadow on
one side of the subjects
face, t could be taken in a
studio (home studio)
Monochrome has been used There is a little bit of
The space isn’t crowded
here as the photograph is in dynamic range – it
There is quite a high level of – it’s quite a passive
black and white – the light
goes from bright white
photograph as there is
grey in this image – the
could either be artificial or it to dark grey to black
only really one main
contrast is high
has been edited because one throughout the image.
focus and that’s the
side is significantly brighter
subject
There is quite a distinct contor line around the
than the other.
subject – the contrast of the dark clothing and The photo is taken from right in
hair against the white background
front of the model – vantage point?

6. Again, this photo would also be
used on a Vogue cover or actually
The central focus is the subject
featured in Vogue.
of the picture – the only thing
The subject isn’t really showing
that truly stands out.
any emotion – there is nothing
particularly expressive about her
face apart from the hint of a smile.
The most prominent feature in
this photograph is the subject,
the model.
The overall style of the photograph
is a portrait and because it’s from
the shoulders upwards, it proves the
point
The photo seems posed, it doesn’t
The background, her hair and her
seem candid or observational in
shoulders are less in focus than
any way – the photo is professional
her face – just her face and hand
and therefore the model has most
seems a lot sharper than the rest
likely been told how to pose and
of the image
what expression to use.
The light used seems to be artificial
I think that this photograph is low
rather than ambient. The most
key, there is no typical white
highlighted area is the hair, face and
background, it just looks like
arm, the rest is either dark grey or
someone's home or out in public
black.
somewhere? There is a lot of dark
There seems to be a repetitive pattern
shadows and the lighting is soft.
going on, not just in this particular
The photograph is in
image but in all of Irving’s photographs. The dynamic range
monochrome – there seems to
changes quite drastically The vantage
He uses the same techniques, the
be a darker use of grey in this
from a bright white to a point is
same poses, the same amount of
image.
somewhere in
contrast, the same lighting, constantly pitch black.
the middle
in monochrome and so on. They also
Although the image is
The background is hardly
lack in symmetry.
noticeable because there is
This image seems a little crowded in terms of crowded, it’s still quite
passive as the subject
so much focus on the main
space, even though it’s just the subject in the
is the only thing really
object
image, there is hardly any background or room
being photographed.
for anything else to really be photographed.

7. Annie Leibovitz (1949 – Present)
•
•
•
•
•
In Westport, Connecticut, 1949, Annie Leibovitz was born. 1971 she
received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the San Francisco Art
Institute, she the continued her studies with photographer, Ralph
Gibson.
In 1969 Leibovitz took part in an archaeological dig at the site of King
Solomon’s temple.
1970 to 1983 she was a freelance photographer and chief photographer
for the magazine, Rolling Stone. She then later served as a concert-tour
photographer for the magazine, Vanity Fair and later founded the Annie
Leibovitz studio in New York.
Leibovitz has a distinct, continuous style to her photographs and that is
to ‘emphasize some aspect of each subject’s public persona.’ She uses
the whole of the ‘subject’s’ bodies whilst they are in physical motion –
she achieves her end products without using too much artificiality.
Leibovitz’s exhibitions have travelled many times throughout the USA
that started with the National Portrait Gallery in Washington and toured
around the rest of the USA, Europe and Asia.
She has many rewards for her work which include:
American Society of Magazine Photographers (ASMP)
Photographer of the Year Award (1984)
The ASMP Innovation in Photography Award (1987)
The Clio Award and the Campaign of the Decade Award from
Advertising Age Magazine (1987)
Infinity Award for applied Photography from the International Cneter for
photography (1990)

8. The main object of the photo is the subject
– the model
The dominant area in this
The image itself is a portrait
photograph is the face of
with only the head, neck and
the subject
shoulders of the subject
This particular photograph – or set of,
showing – along with focusing
is very expressive, the subject of the
on her facial expressions
images is pulling faces that clash with
The image definitely seems posed
emotion – shocked, angry, scared? Considering the image
and staged – Lebovitz has asked
seems to have been taken
the subject to pose and express
outside – the light is ambient
The focus of the image is definitely
an emotion in such a way and the
on the model – the background has
subject has followed orders
been tampered with and blurred to
make the subject stand out more.
The image is low key, it’s outside in a
natural environment – natural soft
The picture is in monochrome, black
lighting, natural staging etc.
and white – this could be because
using this colouring, it’s easier to
Apart from the object, there is hardly
highlight specific areas and erase
anything to focus on in this
blemishes or issues – with colour it
photograph – therefore the image is
would take a lot more work?
passive
The background is blurred so that the
subject stands out more – it seems as if the
background is made up of leaves or an
organic product such as tree’s?
The setting for the photograph seems to be
natural – it looks as if it’s outside – could be the
work of editing?
Considering Annie Leibovitz was a photographer for
Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair magazine, I assume
these photos were either for those or a gallery.
The contrast seems to have
The photograph has been
been messed about with
taken from directly in front
here, there is a high level of
of the subject
grey on the subjects face and
facial features where the
background is dark, blurred
and almost black.
There seems to be a hint of
foliage in the background of the
image?

9. The intention for most of Annie Leibovitz’s portraits/photographs is to
The subject of the image has a slight
be displayed in galleries or in magazines for viewing pleasure – this
smile and the photograph is therefore
particular image is for Vanity Fair Magazine in which Leibovitz
expressive
worked.
The photograph is definitely posed because
it’s been taken in a high key way – in a
The whole photograph seems
The light in this image seems artificial
studio where everything is done
to be in focus, there is nothing
considering it’s in a studio – again
professionally.
out of focus that I can see from
there seems to be a hint of creativity
looking at the photograph first
to make the image unique.
off – the background may be a
This photograph is in colour, the colours
little blurred but it’s quite hard to
are not bright and vivid they are soft and
tell
muted – the colour of her lips and hair
There is quite a lot of space in this
stand out the most – this could be to
image – not only can you see Miley’s
emphasise the on-coming change that the
head and torso and some extra
public were not expecting that turned
background.
Miley Cyrus in to the new images we see
of her now
The background is artificial – it’s definitely
in a studio, even though it doesn’t seem
blurred or edited, the subject still stands
out against the darker background
The photograph has been taken from
the front of the subject
There may have been some editing with
the colour as it’s so pale and almost black
and white with a hint of colour – it seems
like the levels of grey has been changed
The dominant theme and subject of this image is that it is a portrait
and edited.
of a celebrity for a magazine or a gallery – this is a consistent style
used by Leibovitz. She somehow incorporates a little bit of creativity
and unique in every photo to show viewers what the subject is like

10. Annie Leibovitz usually takes very
expressive photos – they don’t have
to be expressive using a facial
expression, they’re expressive
because they all differ from one
another in such a way
The sharper areas in this image is
the subject whereas the background
seems blurred.
The intention of this photograph is
the same as the other two – it’s for
magazines, newspapers, web
pages and galleries and that’s why
they are taken in such a unique way
– so each picture isn’t just a picture
of a face – it’s a picture of the
person.
The repetition of Annie Leibovitz’s
photographs is the way that they are
taken – I’ve talked before about a
certain difference within every portrait
and that is what the repetition of every
one of Annie’s photographs is.
The image is passive as there isn’t a
lot of visual information involved in it
other than the subject and the plain
white background
The setting is in a studio – it is posed
and the background is artificial.
The contrast of this image
has been edited and changed
– the way her skin seems
smoother and the black and
white is extremely light gives
it away.
As the image is a portrait – that is
what the theme is
The photograph is definitely posed
and not candid – it looks as if it
has been taken in a studio and
therefore makes the photograph
high key.
The light in this photograph seems
artificial as it seems to be taken in a
studio – all the right areas are
highlighted although that could just be
down to editing.
This photograph is in monochrome – it’s
mainly black and white although it looks
like the saturation and the contrast
levels have been edited slightly – there
is a higher level of grey in this image
than there has been in the last two.
The background of this photograph is a
studio background and is therefore white
and plain – this is to make the subject
stand out more against it.