What inspired and affected you most for being a photographer?

My studies of art history, especially  great masters such as Caravaggio, a master of painting deep emotional shadowy works invoking  certain feelings,desires, or questions from a photo or art piece.

How do you define Kenn Penn in terms of artistic skills and personality?

Personally there is too side, I am pretty quiet compared to most people but once I know you I can be a goof ball, Soft spoken though I am 6’4 monster. Skill hard to said,..I try to stay on top of my game and constantly keep learning new techniques and trying not to get stuck doing the same things over and over.

What commission have you done you would be most proud of?

My most favorite commission would be surprisingly a wedding portrait I shot in Las Vegas. It was at the "Bone Yard’ which is the Las Vegas casino and hotel signs graveyard! it was amazing even only having an hour and at 110 degree heat.

What are your favorite tastes on music, food, and entertainment?

I’m Veg! I love Vegan food, My favorite is Faux Vegan "Chickin" from Govindas Gourmet go here in Philadelphia.  CLose favorite is Thai Deep Fried Tofu Pad Kapau! GoVeg.com!

What’s the most important for you in life?

My new 5 month old Daughter Sabina, means the world to ,me, My Family, My friends and My Art. I believe with out people in your life to share experiences whats the use of doing anything.

Can you describe your studio set-up?

I ha a 2000 sq foot studio herein North East Philadelphia here in the States, Currently I use a Nikon D700 as my main Camera, with a Nikon D200 as a backup, for lighting I use Dynalite power packs with built in pocket wizards am I am about to add the new Paul Buff Einstein LIghts for my portable setup.

Could you reveal some of your favorite photography techniques?

I love Dramatic light so I invest in light modifiers, Grids, various soft boxes, etc. Anything to give light and my image more character.

 

Which models or celebrities would you like most to work with?

Right now Im obsessed with Lady Gaga, maybe its the art direction of her videos or her stylist I really like, but its very intriguing, I feel I am moving  more toward high fashion editorial work, Im not really a person that needs to shoot someone famous to be happy but someone who gives me a lot of effort is just as great. But I wound not  turn down Gwen Stefani either!

If you had a limitless budget, what kind of personal photography project would you create?

Oh wow, the sky’s the limit, I have outrageous ideas but always limited by budget, of course I could photoshop and image and have but Im trying to get away from that, feels empty that I cant say I shot it as is, I have a Giant series I do where I place models bigger than life into scenes. I would love to collaborate with a movie model maker and shoot models in those scenes.

Do movies inspire you? Which film directors do you find closer to yourself in terms of visual comprehension?

The ay some movies are shot, color scenery etc inspire me, it’s rare I spark Ideas from a movie unless its theme based, Like Alice In Wonderland or something like that. I did do a tribute shot of one of my all time favorite movies "A Christmas Story" where a kid gets his tongue frozen to a cold flag pole. I shot it with a lady model instead.

The current theme of Revolutionart is "Climate Change". What do you think about it?

I used to be into political / social art, I still enjoy it, but haven’t really thought about it, I think to do stuff like that you need to be really well educated or informed on the project so not make any mistakes to discredit your effort. The people who do it usually are and I applaud their work. Myself I would probably take a different approach than must involve beautiful women and a satirical setting.

 

Ken Penn appears in Revolutionart Magazine 24 – Climate Change
For more info about Ken, visit him at kencredible.com