Choice 评论

This beautifully crafted and profusely illustrated volume represents a carefully selected set of Penn's drawn from his extensive career. Selected by the artist himself in honor of his wife and model Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn, the images reflect the artist's work both commercially and artistically. As one of the best-known portrait and fashion photographers of the post-WW II era, Penn set the standard for innovation in representing the cultural elite. Included in this collection are selections from Worlds in a Small Room, Passages, and Earthly Bodies, three important books of Penn's work. He took his studio with him wherever he went to photograph, and he exercised the strictest control over composition, light, and color, no matter what his subject matter. Penn's photographic world is self-contained, a feat accomplished by removing his subjects from any context. One experiences his subjects as if they were sculptures and objects of contemplation or speculation. With his studio technique, light is the sculptor. Penn's work is a fascinating study in the development and application of style and the marketability of that style in both publication and museum formats. The book contains two introductory celebratory essays that suffer from a stiffness of translation from the Swedish and a lack of critical clarity. Suitable for general readership as well as undergraduates in photography. A must resource for those studying studio photography. J. Bloom formerly, San Francisco State University