Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen, born in 1879, was one of the first ever fashion photographer. He had the talent to turn the work of ordinary photography and give it an edge. He put more thought into his photography to make it an art form. Through the years he was always interested in art and the new beginning processes of photography. In 1888 he left school to work at a lithographing company. He bought his first camera in 1895 and just three years later he was accepted at the Second Philadelphia Salon of Pictorial Photography. On his way to study painting in Paris he stopped in New York and was introduced to Alfred Stieglitz, who was an American photographer leading a movement that would help other people recognize that photography was fine art. They became close friends and cofounded the Photo-Secession. The Photo-Secession was an organization that they dedicated to making sure photography was known as a fine art, and also to exhibit one of their galleries. During world war I he was in charge of all aerial photography of the America Expedition Force, and in 1919 retired as lieutenant colonel and settled down in France. Later he returned to America and opened a commercial studio in New York which specialized in advertising photography. In the 1920’s he produced fashion illustration, which was new, as well as portraiture for magazines such as Vanity Fair and Vogue. He closed his studio in 1938 to breed plants, and was then called back to command all Navy combat photography. When he was 68 years old he was named the director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His largest and most famous exhibit was titles “The Family of Man” containing 503 photographs and was later put into a book that became a best seller. He was a large part in promoting the artistic side that photography has to offer and continued to achieve major accomplishments throughout his lifetime.

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