Spencer Tracey, by Irving Penn
Penn captured the faces, and personalities, of celebrities from movie star Spencer Tracy (I948) to author Anaïs Nin (1971), gradually changing his approach to portraiture over the years. In the 1940s, Penn positioned his sitters in a narrow corner created by two bare, dull theater flats, a device of his own creation. The set both physically and psychologically confined the sitters, putting them on equal footing with Penn.
I myself have always stood in the awe of the camera. I recognize it for the instrument it is, part Stradivarius, part scalpel. - Irving Penn
Photographing a cake can be art. - Irving Penn - asserted when he opened his studio in 1953
