Irving Penn Book order

Irving Penn is one of the most noteworthy photographers of the twentieth century, best known for his inimitable fashion and portrait photographs, as well as his unique still lifes. In 1967, Penn traveled on assignment from the American fashion journal "Vogue" to Dahomey in western Africa, now the Republic of Benin. His portraits of natives taken in a portable studio built especially for the occasion reflect Penn's fascination with foreign cultures, as do his photographs of culturally significant clay figures dedicated primarily to the voodoo god Legba. 35 years after their publication in "Vogue," Irving Penn presents these portraits of tribal people and his photographs of Legba altars in book form for the first time. With texts by leading anthropologists and Irving Penn himself, this volume is an extraordinary photographic document of African culture, from a master recorder of our time.

Shows and discusses hats, shoes, jackets, trousers, coats, capes, jumpsuits, and dresses by the Japanese designer

On assignment for Vogue in the 1950s and 1960s, Penn (1917-2009) traveled the world as an "ambulant studio photographer", setting up a tent and photographing the people of Cuzco, Crete, Extremadura, Dahomey, Cameroon, San Francisco, Nepal, New Guinea, and Morocco. There is as well his photo-essay on the "small trades" of Paris, London and NYC. A photo-book masterpiece of the late 20th century. Cloth-bound hardcover in a pictorial dust jacket. 96 pages; 76 b&w photographic plates--most full-page--including text illustrations and photographs of Penn at work by his wife, Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn; 11 x 11 inches.