Born On This Day

Irving Penn (June 16, 1917) American photographer noted for his sophisticated fashion images and incisive portraits.
Beginning in 1945, he photographed fashion for Vogue Magazine (for which he produced over 100 covers) and began making portraits of writers, dancers, wrestlers and others.l These photographs are noted for their formal qualities, which are enhanced by elegance of line, simplified lighting and radically minimal settings.
In 1950 he began photographing his Worlds in a Small Room project. This work was initially concerned with portraits of tradespeople in Paris, London and New York, but later included gypsies and the peoples of Dahomey, Cameroon, Nepal, New Guinea and Morocco. Penn worked in rented studios and in a portable canvas studio that was erected on location, photographing individuals and groups against blank backgrounds in natural light, with an almost ethnographical directness.