I love Irving Penn's portrait of Marlene Dietrich, taken in New York, 1948. The image is defined by what is obscured. The high contrast between the black of her coat and the pure white of the skin is sublime. The composition is a classic example of the triangle, the line of the back taking the eye straight to her face.Penn said that: "Sensitive people faced with the prospect of a camera portrait put on a face they think is one they would like to show the world....very often what lies behind the facade is rare and more beautiful than the subject knows or dares to believe" Irving Penn, 1975
http://www.npg.org.uk:8080/irvingpenn/index.htm
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