Irving Penn
PhotographerKnown for:
studio portraiture and fashion photography for Vogue
Education:
Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art (1934-1938, under Alexey Brodovitch)
Irving Penn spent more than six decades working across fashion, portraiture, and still life for Vogue, where he began as a staff photographer in 1943. His platinum-palladium prints, made in his own darkroom, are noted for their tonal richness and physical permanence. He is equally admired for his fashion work and for a parallel body of portraits of working people made in a portable studio he set up in countries without professional facilities.
Irving Penn's Gear List(4)
Connection Source
ArticWebsite
Connection note
Purchased first Rolleiflex in 1938; used for street, fashion, nudes, and ethnographic work
Product description
Twin-lens reflex camera system produced by Franke & Heidecke in Germany, shooting 6x6cm frames on 120 roll film. Known for its waist-level viewfinder, quiet leaf shutter, and Zeiss or Schneider taking lenses. Various models were produced from 1929 through the 2000s.
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Last updated March 20, 2026
