Crafting Shadows

Reflections on Irving Penn's Platinum Prints at the De Young Museum

On June 17th, a notification popped up on my iPhone reminding me of Irving Penn’s birthday. I’ve been meaning to sit down and write about his retrospective show at the De Young Museum after seeing it last April but was derailed from the abrupt trip to Manila to be with my family. The birthday reminder finally prompted me to commit to writing about it this week.

Photo by Erika.

Erika swung by my place at 9:30 am, and we traveled across the bay to San Francisco in her Miata. Blue skies and a mild but cool temperature made it perfect for cruising with the top down. We arrived just as the De Young Museum opened, allowing us to amble through the exhibit before the crowds arrived.

The first platinum-palladium prints we encountered were from Mr. Penn’s 1950s fashion series, taken in Paris with his wife and model, Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn.

In “Woman with Roses, 1950,” she wears a black haltered Jeanne La Faurie evening dress paired with long gloves. She strikes a pose with her left hand on her waist adorned with three roses just above the cuff. He captures her face in semi-profile— an angle she is famous for. My eyes zone in on the elegant draping along her hips hidden in the shadows. Here lies Mr. Penn’s mastery of his craft–his ability to control and extract details from the dark areas of a print. 

Allow me to geek out for a bit and show you what I mean.

Below are four versions of "Woman with Roses, 1950," each displaying a variation of contrast and tonal range. He created a total of 40 prints for this series. The notation below each image provides context and order to the collection, helping viewers understand the position of each photograph within the complete body of work.

As Mr. Penn meticulously experimented with several negatives and exposures, combined with multiple chemical coatings on the print, you begin to notice more details in the photograph, such as the sheen of the fabric and the contours of Lisa’s legs. Alternatively, he withheld them to focus on the silhouette of the dress on her. This kind of nuanced experimentation makes each of his platinum palladium prints unique.

(Disclosure: While these images were pulled online and subject to variables like scanning, it is not meant to be a true representation of each print. My intention is just to show a general idea of his technique.)

Woman with Roses, 1950. Platinum Prints. Photograph by Irving Penn.

How did he achieve these results?

Vasilios Zatse, who worked closely with Mr. Penn in the darkroom, provides a brief explanation of his creative process.

In other words, Mr. Penn used the equivalent of the masking technique in Photoshop but did it manually in the darkroom— such a laborious feat!

As Erika and I made our way through the exhibit, I recalled afternoons spent assembling aluminum plates at the New York studio in preparation for Mr. Penn’s weekend darkroom sessions at his Long Island home. The process involved three materials: the paper, a custom adhesive, and the aluminum plate, which was made with pin registrations and cut to specific sizes. Billy, Mr. Penn’s first assistant, and Vasilios explained that the adhesive, called Surlyn, was manufactured by DuPont. Although the company only made it in black, Mr. Penn needed it in white. They agreed to customize his request only if he met the minimum order of one ton.

“(Surlyn) is impervious to hydrochloride acid which would have corroded the aluminum plates. (The) papers were adhered to (the) aluminum plates to minimize/eliminate sizing/shrinkage when certain images were printed atop one another to extend tonal range using different negatives for highlights, midtones, and shadows,” Billy elaborated when I reached out to him after seeing the exhibit.

It was crucial to keep mistakes to a minimum. The instructions were simple: the paper surface must be even without any creases, and all materials must be adhered with the sides and bottom corners aligned with the aluminum plate. Although challenging and nerve-wracking at first, I eventually got the hang of it.

Occasionally, Mr. Penn came by, observing briefly and gently reassuring me in his soft, whispery voice that my contribution was important to the entire printing process. "Thank you, Mr. Penn," I replied. He acknowledged with a nod and a smile before proceeding to the next task, always courteous in that manner.

Mr. Penn produced platinum palladium prints across his entire body of work, encompassing fashion, portraits, still life, and ethnographic studies. It's incredible to think that he created about 2,000 prints during his lifetime.

Here are a couple of my favorite series from the show:

Small Trades series. Photographs by Irving Penn

Cigarettes Series. Photographs by Irving Penn

Glass cases placed within certain sections of the exhibit contained issues of Vogue magazines, showcasing the original layout of his photographs upon their initial publication.

As we reached the end of the exhibit, I spotted the platinum print titled "Two Miyake Warriors." I smiled and paused for a long time, listening to the audio commentary.

Photo by Erika

It was a full-circle moment for me to have been part of this photo shoot at Mr. Penn’s studio. Though it was a mere speck in his 50-year career, it was a once-in -a-lifetime experience. I'm also grateful that the curators found the image significant enough to include in the exhibit.

Twenty-six years ago, I wrote a journal entry in my diary after the photo shoot and later shared it on Sundays with Stella. The audio commentary discussed Mr. Penn’s relationship with Mr. Miyake, a topic I also touched on in this post.

Here it is again:

So, dear readers, if you ever chance upon one of Mr. Penn’s platinum palladium prints during your life time, I encourage you to take a closer look. Marvel at the intricate details of his images, as his mastery lies in how he brings them to life from the shadows.

After the show, Erika treated me to a delightful late lunch at Green’s, calling it an early birthday celebration. We were fortunate to get a table next to the large open windows, offering a clear view of the Golden Gate Bridge. And finally, the ride home to the East Bay in her convertible Miata through the Presidio, the marina, and onto the Bay Bridge on a sunny afternoon was the perfect end to the day.

See you all next Sunday!

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Irving Penn’s retrospective at the DeYoung Museum runs until July 21, 2024.

I discovered two more informative videos about Mr. Penn’s work through a conversation between with his son, Tom Penn and Vasilios Zatse.

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