Vionnet Dress with Fan (1925-1926), New York 1974

Irving Penn took this photograph in New York between 1925-1926. It feels like an homage. I can imagine Penn in the darkroom watching this image emerge, shifting the tones, and letting the forms come into being through light and shadow. There’s something so painterly about photography, especially here. The texture of the dress against the feathered fan, the velvety gray background—it's all so tactile. I wonder what Penn was thinking when he made this. Was he aware of the formal qualities of the dress and fan? Did he see it as a kind of sculptural composition? Maybe he was referencing some old master, or maybe he was just playing with light and form. The single gesture of the figure, looking to the side, and the knot of the dress, each communicates intention, suggesting a narrative or a mood. It makes me want to make a painting! It is a reminder that we’re all in conversation, riffing off each other across time.