I discovered Irving Penn when I needed direction on what kind of photographer I wanted to be. Penn is considered one of the best photographers in the twentieth century. His portraits, still life, fashion, and beauty photographs graced Vogue Magazine for more than fifty years. 

I'm exploring works similar to Irving Penn’s Small Trades series. What I like about his portraits is that it’s often contrasty. He uses natural lighting and it usually comes from one direction which makes his portraits dramatic. Like Penn, I found people to photograph asking them to come as they were. At first they were very skeptical, as you can see in their inquisitive looks. Like Penn, I like the idea of separating my subject from distracting backgrounds, so I had my subject stand in front of a blank background wearing their everyday clothes and carrying the tools of their trade.

Penn explored the series over two decades perfecting his images. I hope to explore my own work and make it perfect as well while tapping into my own style with time. At a time where Instagram floods us with overwhelming amounts of images, studying the classics seems to help me stay focused. Penn’s dedication to his work shows me to perfect my portraits instead of feeling overwhelmed by the next cool photography trend.

For now, I thought of sharing these images with you. As the world has finally realized the importance of essential workers, now is a better time than ever to share the workers, tradesmen, and street criers I’ve met and had the opportunity to photograph in Addis Ababa and Jimma, Ethiopia.

Like always thanks for visiting my virtual gallery/writing. If you’d like more information about Irving Penn Check out the links below.

Learn more about Irving Penn 

Irving Penn's Website

New York Times detailed Article about Irving Penn 

9 lessons Irving Penn can teach you about photography