Goodbye, Mr. Penn
In Memoriam 10.12.09
How do you say goodbye to someone you never met?
I never knew Irving Penn. But I'm going to miss him. He was a constant, important presence in my life for many years.
I've looked for Irving Penn's pictures in American Vogue every month for as long as I can remember. I looked for the man himself on the street in New York too. A photographer friend once told me a story about Mr. Penn, a myth no doubt, one of those artist-as-God stories, related in a hushed voice, but I liked the story, so I chose to believe it. … MORE