Photography Inspiration: Irving Penn

I just recently discovered the great Irving Penn while I was researching things for a blog post at work. I was actually taken aback after seeing the photograph of the Ballet Society and the image of Lisa Fonssagrives. His images are just so powerful and poetic that it feels like the eyes of the person in his photograph is looking right at your very essence. Most of his photographs are stripped off color and elaborate backgrounds which makes his work so direct and emotionally charged.