Worlds in a Small Room [Hardcover]

Irving Penn (Author, Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 1980

On assignment for Vogue in the 1950s and 1960s, Penn (1917-2009) traveled the world as an "ambulant studio photographer", setting up a tent and photographing the people of Cuzco, Crete, Extremadura, Dahomey, Cameroon, San Francisco, Nepal, New Guinea, and Morocco. There is as well his photo-essay on the "small trades" of Paris, London and NYC. A photo-book masterpiece of the late 20th century.

Cloth-bound hardcover in a pictorial dust jacket. 96 pages; 76 b&w photographic plates--most full-page--including text illustrations and photographs of Penn at work by his wife, Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn; 11 x 11 inches.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 95 pages
• Publisher: A Studio Book Viking Press (September 25, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670790257
• ISBN-13: 978-0670790258
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 10.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 20 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,949,247 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Photographing The World, August 18, 2005

By 

Manuel Carrillo (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Worlds in a Small Room (Hardcover)

Irving Penn takes us on a journey while he photographs the people of the world. Using a portable studio in remote locations, Irving Penn is able to capture cultures like the Kirdi of Cameroon, Nepal, Morocco, Dahomey, Crete and New Guinea. He also captured the people of New York, Paris, London, San Franscisco, and Cuzco. Irving Penn describes the different locations he visits and his most memorable experiences. Penn not only shows his passion as a photographer but as a Human being while adapting to different cultures around the world as he photographs them.

The photographs in the book are astonishing. All of the photographs are lit with natural light and are shot in a studio. Penn captures the essence of culture in his photographs. The diverse people in the images allow you to see the different types of cultures that exist around the world.