Irving Penn, Influential Fashion Photographer, Dies at 92

Irving Penn, a photographer best known for his polished fashion photography for Vogue magazine, passed away in his New York apartment today at 92. His brother Arthur delivered the news to the press, but his cause of death has not been revealed.

Marlene Dietrich photographed by Irving Penn.
According to the LA Times, Penn started working for Vogue in 1943, managing to bridge the gap between commercial and artistic, editorial photography. He was famous for using the same technique in most of his photographs, portraying the subject simply, against a bare background, with little or no props in the shot. As a result, many of the people he photographed -- including Marcel Duchamp, Georgia O'Keeffe and Marlene Dietrich -- looked iconic. During his lifetime, he shot more than 150 covers for Vogue.

Although his fashion work is what he's most noted for, Penn traveled around the world taking pictures. He went to Peru, Morocco, New Guinea to capture the natives, and his personal photograph collection is considered invaluable.