I've always been drawn to the work of Irving Penn, particularly his "Small Trades" series, bringing workers ( in this example British truck washers) in off the streets & into the studio.
His celebrity portraits are equally beautiful & perceptive, for example this portrait of Jean Cocteau.
There's always been the question of whether his ethnographic work is portraiture, but I think the distinction is mainly about degree of fame. It's interesting to compare his work with Martin Schoeller's portraits of Brazilian Piraha tribesmen mixed in with his celebrity portraits: http://www.acegallery.net/artistmenu.php?pageNum_ACE=4&totalRows_ACE=126&Artist=41
No comments:
Post a Comment