Irving Penn’s “The Small Trades” is a series he created for Vogue in the 1950s which documents service people in Paris, New York and London. This collection of images has been acquired by the Getty in its entirety and will be on show in 2009.
Penn is known for his classic portraits of models and artists, a far cry from this series which features cleaning ladies, waiters, glaziers and deep sea divers among others. And yet Penn’s pictures of the working classes have the same gravity and elegance as his fashion shots.
Each individual is posed against a backdrop in their typical uniform and with the tools of their trade. I like this deep sea diver with his bubble mask looking like some sub-aquatic astronaut.
The New York Times wrote a piece about the Getty acquisition recently.
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