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Observing William Penn's Photography

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At first glance I notice this Irving Penn photograph seems mysterious and blurry, much like a lot of his works of art. He uses the blurring technique to make you wonder more in detail what is going on in the photo. When researching, I found most of his works are portraits unlike Cretan Landscape. Irving Penn was known as a photographer whose classical simplicity transformed the pages of Vogue magazine. There are very few great portraitists, but he is a sort of sorcerer who seems beyond resemblance. Irving Penn’s Cretan Landscape was a rather large photograph at 15.4x22in. However, it still showcases the magnificent artwork that Irving Penn is capable of. When looking at this photograph, I first think that the man on the horse is the main focus, almost as if he is in charge over everyone else in the picture. I also notice the animals in the back ground almost like cattle, things like sheep and cows. What I don’t understand about this photograph is the shadows of people behind him. I don’t understand their meaning in this picture. I also don’t understand why this photograph’s setting is in the deep woods, almost as if they are all hiding from something. Penn stays in a strict color scheme, using multiple shades of gray staying dark around the sides and moving to lighter shades in the center spaces. He blends these colors going through the many prints he used in the platinum metals and then slowly blends the more distinct colors when the hand-coated color

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