If you are coming to San Francisco any time soon, the Irving Penn exhibition will be up at The de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park until July 21, 2024.
Way back in April – so much has happened since then it seems like a few years ago instead of just a month and a half ago – I took myself to this exhibition as a birthday present to myself. I love looking at the photographs of photographers that came before me, not only for their composition skills, but also just to look at the prints, and their personal style of documentation.
From the fashion spreads to the classic portraits, to the portraits from Cuzco and Papua New Guinea that I had forgotten about, the exhibition brought back a flood of memories of looking through the magazines – the only place us WestPA hicks saw the work of the famous photographers – while sitting on the couch at my Grandmother’s house.
The exhibition is worth the trip to the museum, even though once it is seen it feels like a sparse collection of images. At the moment I felt I was really getting into it, I found myself in the museum store. So take your time to savor each image.
Irving Penn (June 16, 1917 – October 7, 2009) was an exceptional photographer throughout his career. While I can look back to the time period of the 40s – 80s and count the exceptional photographers that inspired me, Penn being one of them, I often wonder about the over saturated state of photography these days, and how future photography students will look back at our current time period and pick out their favorite photographers for inspiration.
About Visiting The Museum
I have to admit that I was in no hurry the day that I went to see the exhibition. I decide on the BART ride over to The City that I would have lunch while at the museum in the Cafe – and by the time I got there, I was starving.
If you look at the website, the Cafe hours are listed as 9:30am – 4:30pm. To be clear though, and I didn’t find this out until I got there at 2:30, real food is only served between 11am – 2pm. Their Grab and Go options really are grab and go snacks – chips, yogurts, and the like as well as bottled waters – and the only thing available after 2:30.
de Young Museum
Golden Gate Park
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive
San Francisco, CA 94118
