Cup Face, New York
Maker
Irving Penn
(American, 1917-2009)
Date1975, printed 1976
MediumPlatinum palladium print
DimensionsImage: 10 3/4 × 8 1/2 in. (27.3 × 21.6 cm)
Sheet: 14 7/8 × 11 1/8 in. (37.8 × 28.3 cm)
Sheet: 14 7/8 × 11 1/8 in. (37.8 × 28.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Estate of Lester and Betty Guttman
Object number2014.652
Status
Not on viewBest known for his extraordinary fashion photography, commercial work, and exquisite nudes, Irving Penn was one of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century. Cup Face, New York is from a series of intimate works that abstract everyday, unremarkable objects into intriguing forms. At once a portrait and a still life, this photograph finds a worthy subject in the detritus of New York City streets—a disposable cup—and Penn treats it with as much reverence as he would a Vogue model. With the platinum palladium print, he revisits an archaic photographic process, lauded for its luminosity, superior tonal range, and permanence, emphasizing the careful craft and expressive capabilities of the photographic medium itself. The platinum imbeds in the paper, imbuing the image of the flattened cup with greater dimensionality. By investing such care in a throwaway item of contemporary life, Penn creates a lasting portrait of the discarded.
