Irving Penn

Irving Penn, one of the most important American photographers of the 20th century, was born on June 16, 1917 in Plainfield, New Jersey. From 1934-1938 he studied design at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art in Philadelphia under the legendary art director Alexey Brodovitch, whose teaching was to have a major influence on numerous important photographers. 1938-1940 he worked as a freelance designer and draftsman in New York. Through Brodovitch, who in the meantime was also in New York as art director of the magazine "Harper's Bazaar" and published Penn's drawings there, Irving Penn came to photography. In 1940/41 Irving Penn worked for the luxury fashion department store Saks on Fifth Avenue, first as a design assistant, then as Brodovitch's successor.