Podcast: Irving Penn - Many Versions of Perfect

We tried something a little different with this episode of the B&H Photography Podcast. We took three writers from our Explora blog along with us as we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the much praised photography retrospective, Irving Penn: Centennial. Upon our return we gathered to talk about the exhibit and the influential work of Irving Penn.

If you love photography, the name Irving Penn should be familiar to you, but this retrospective places equal emphasis on work that falls outside the realm of his famed fashion and portraiture for Vogue Magazine and synthesizes his almost 70 years of photography, acquainting us with his still-life, documentary, nudes, and even street photography, as well as with his skills as a printer.

Along with our guests Cory Rice, Jill Waterman, and Akeem Addy, we talk about the works on view in this retrospective-- what impressed us the most, what confused us, what surprised us, what we learned about the cohesive strength of composition, light, and gesture in Penn’s work, and just how influential he has been on all of our photography, whether we realize it or not.

Guests: Jill Waterman, Cory Rice, Akeem Addy

Rochas Mermaid Dress (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn), Paris, 1950. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York © Condé Nast

Pablo Picasso at La Californie, Cannes, 1957. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, © The Irving Penn Foundation

Fishmonger, London, 1950. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, © Condé Nast

Cuzco Children, 1948. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, © Condé Nast

Cigarette No. 37, New York, 1972. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, © The Irving Penn Foundation

After-Dinner Games, New York, 1947. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, © Condé Nast

Three Asaro Mud Men, New Guinea, 1970. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, © The Irving Penn Foundation

Single Oriental Poppy, New York, 1968. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, © The Irving Penn Foundation

Marlene Dietrich, New York, 1948. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, © The Irving Penn Foundation

Tribesman with Nose Disc, New Guinea, 1970. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, © The Irving Penn Foundation

Truman Capote, New York, 1948. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, © The Irving Penn Foundation

Glove and Shoe, New York, 1947. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, © Condé Nast

Irving Penn’s Rolleiflex camera on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photograph by John Harris

Jill Waterman, Allan Weitz, Cory Rice, Akeem Addy. Photograph by John Harris

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Host: Allan Weitz

Senior Creative Producer: John Harris

Producer: Jason Tables

Executive Producer: Lawrence Neves