A photographer making a portrait is driven by two powerful forces: His own creative approach and the personality of his subject. The results, as seen here, often vary widely but ultimately depend on bold selection and framing of what he sees. "A great presence, deeply aware of his own image," observed Irving Penn of Pablo Picasso, who had dressed up for this picture in bullfighter's cloak and stiffbrimmed Cordoban hat. Penn, on assignment from Vogue magazine, let the great painter pose himself, while he focused on the essence of the man, his "eye-round, quick, intensely black."
Arnold Newman, working for Harper's Bazaar, seated pianist and composer Igor Stravinsky beside a grand piano, its open top suggesting a giant black musical note. The extraordinary placement of the musician in one corner of the picture clinches the composition's powerful effect, echoing the discordant and yet lovely quality Newman so admired in Stravinsky's music.
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