I felt the need to pay tribute to one of the greats. This weekend I went to see the “Small Trades” show by Irving Penn at the Getty here in Los Angeles. I’ve seen his work before and this show reminded me, yet again, that he was an innovative and exceptional artist. Penn had the foresight to understand how our world was changing and he followed his instincts to document many of the working class people of the day. Not only was he capturing each individual and their trade, he was also creating a time capsule documenting those particular careers (some of which have either dramatically changed or disappeared entirely) as the industry moved forward. It is fascinating! I’ve also never seen a show with so much emphasis based on his technical craftsmanship. I’m not really surprised though. Everything that Irving Penn photographed represented perfection, elegance, and natural luminance. I hope he rests in piece and I want to thank him for creating such an inspiring body of work that will live on.
