 "Photo: Irving Penn")
 "Photo: Irving Penn")
 "Photo: Irving Penn")
 "Photo: Irving Penn")
When most people (myself included) think of fashion, they think of skinny women wearing ridiculously beautiful clothing complemented by impeccable make-up and hair. See any picture of Kate Moss or Giselle Bündchen for further information. However, Irving Penn, a photographer for Vogue during the mid-century who died earlier this year, did not limit himself to the usual supermodel, a truth made evident in the Art Institute exhibit, Irving Penn: A Tribute.
None of Penn’s 14 photographs now on exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago feature a subject that would be allowed on America’s Next Top Model. Each of the four nudes shown is quite clearly overweight. But before you think “Why would anyone want to look at naked fat people?” you should know that Penn specialized in making what would conventionally be thought of as ugly, beautiful. These women are photographed in such a way to emphasize the grace of their curves. The depth of the shadows cast by their limbs contrasts with softly lit contours of their bodies and creates art where normally we would just see obesity.
However, Penn did not just photograph overweight models. He had a broad range of subjects. Naturally, for Vogue he did do some of the usual fashion photography, but he also photographed other members of society that would usually be overlooked by a fashion photographer.
His photo “The Angel” features a man with a goblin-like facial appearance and the build of a hard laborer. Nevertheless, the heavy shadowing of his lower body and the bright light focused on his face emphasizes the proud lift to his chin and controlled line of his body. Despite his unattractive face, he is a physically impressive man gracefully poised for action.
My favorite photo on exhibit was his “Young Woman in a Net,” commissioned by the Miyake design house in 1993. It highlights a model whose surroundings obscure her natural beauty; she has become literally ensnared by a net. The viewer can see the outline of her figure, but the sharp, blocky lines of the net draw more attention to her eyes (the only part of her that can be seen clearly) than her lower body.
The photo looks more like a line drawing than a conventional picture — an interesting effect when you consider it was made with the same platinum and dye transfer process as his other photographs.
Penn said it best: “Photographing a cake can be art.” If you go to Penn’s exhibit, you will see that it is possible to find artistic beauty in anything.
To experience the unconventional elegance of Irving Penn: A Tribute stop by the Art Institute through Dec. 13.
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