Irving Penn dies

Photographic legend Irving Penn died yesterday at the age of 92. He leaves behind a body of work that will be remembered for its elegant economy.

Whether he was photographing models wearing the newest line from Paris or artists such as Picasso and Duchamp or (more controversially) indigenous peoples, his approach was to keep the focus of attention on the subject by reducing the image to its bare essentials: subject, light, action. He applied a similar philosophy when photographing still lives, for which he is equally famous.

Click here to read an in-depth article about Penn’s art and life.