Still Life : Irving Penn Photographs, 1938-2000

Rating:
Summary: More for the Canon
Review: A great achievement by the publishers, Little Brown, who are demonstrating committment to Penn's work with terrific reproductions and presentations of his work in this and the previous book devoted to the photographer's collaborations with Issey Miyake. Penn's still life work is an intriguing mixture of idiosyncatic, almost hermetic 'personal' photographs and his magazine work, mostly for Vogue. The range of subjects in the former category is diverse, from street trash to minimalist steel block constructions to animal skulls. The latter is similarly diverse, within the confines of the editorial demands of a glossy magazine. Stated simply, no-one does it better. When Penn trains his mind and eyes on a subject, it is made uniquely his own. These are works to ponder, not only because of their formal beauty, but also for the larger implications of people, objects and their inherent transience. John Szarkowski contributes his usual eloquent and generous prose in this very desirable book. Highly recommended for fans of Irving Penn and fine photography, old and new.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Penn
Review: Irving Penn has been making still life photographs for many decades, and this collection is a good representation of his work. Elegant black and white compositions of the 1940s, detailed groupings since the 1980s, and his in-your-face color that we see frequently in Vogue today, there is some of everything. My only complaint is this: I would like to see more of his ads for Clinique. Only two are reproduced here. There are hundreds more, and most are more interesting that the two selected for this book.

Rating:
Summary: This is good but nothing new
Review: Irving Penn is a great photographer and these images are wonderful. If you own other Irving Penn books, you probably have seen most of these. There's nothing wrong with mining old images and putting them in a book, but this is getting a little crazy.
Great images but if you have his other books, save you're money. If you want, you can buy me presents if the stuff is burning a hole in your pocket.

Rating:
Summary: What's in a name?
Review: This book should be titled "Food Photography and other Commercial Assignments" or "The Sixty-dollar Disappointment" or even, "How to make Money off of things I already got paid for." "Still-Life" is misleading as it indicates an artistic level this book does not attain to. If you're into Advertising photography, Penn is unique and often humorous but if you're looking for images to challenge you or reflect on, you will be disappointed, as was I. As for his personal work in this book, the question is, how many skulls and cigarettes do you want to look at? My personal opinion is, if you do something like that, do it, do it well, and move on. In short, most are sharp, well-lit, and well-printed but shallow, like most Advertising.

Rating:
Summary: What's in a name?
Review: This book should be titled "Food Photography and other Commercial Assignments" or "The Sixty-dollar Disappointment" or even, "How to make Money off of things I already got paid for." "Still-Life" is misleading as it indicates an artistic level this book does not attain to. If you're into Advertising photography, Penn is unique and often humorous but if you're looking for images to challenge you or reflect on, you will be disappointed, as was I. As for his personal work in this book, the question is, how many skulls and cigarettes do you want to look at? My personal opinion is, if you do something like that, do it, do it well, and move on. In short, most are sharp, well-lit, and well-printed but shallow, like most Advertising.