IRVING PENN | 'FISHMONGER', LONDON, 1950

This powerful platinum print belongs to Penn’s series Small Trades, which he began photographing in 1950 in London, Paris and New York. He sought to document trades that would eventually disappear and as a result this body of work stands as a historical piece of the mid-20th century. The portraits were executed in the same simple manner as his fashion works were conducted. Penn welcomed to his atelier the subjects, who had previously been scouted by his assistant, and captured them in their full work attire accompanied by tools of their occupation.