Edward Steichen, born Eduard Jean Steichen in the duchy of Luxembourg in 1879, and died 94 years later in Redding, Connecticut, bridged the gap of almost a century in the history of photography. I recommend you click on the links below to learn about this remarkable man while I offer these examples of his accomplishments from his associations with Alfred Stieglitz and Camera Work to his extraordinary exhibit of The Family of Man at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1955.
http://mastersofphotography.blogspot.com/2011/02/edward-steichen.html
Edward Steichen, The Flatiron Building, 1905.
Gum brichromate over platinum print.
Edward Steichen, Rodin, Le Penseur and Victor Hugo, Paris, 1902
Edward Steichen, In Memoriam, New York, 1904.
Platinum and gum print.
Edward Steichen. J.P. Morgan, 1903
Edward Steichen, Gary Cooper, 1928
Edward Steichen, Gloria Swanson, 1928
Edward Steichen, Louise Brooks, 1928
Edward Steichen, Greta Garbo, 1929
The following photos were made by Steichen for his advertising client Matson Lines, in the 1940s.
Steichen in the uniform of a commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve during World War II, courtesy LIFE magazine. He was commissioned a lieutenant commander and retired as a captain.
In World War I, he was commissioned a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army and took command of the photographic services of the American Expeditionary Forces in France, retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel and honors from both France and the U.S.A.
This title was published in many printings and can be found at very reasonable prices where used books are sold. The prologue is by the noted poet Carl Sandberg, Steichen's brother-in-law.
Steichen's fourth wife, Joanna, wrote this exhaustive and candid account of their June and December courtship and marriage when she was 26 and he 80 years of age, which is surrounded by expertly printed large examples of his best work throughout the years of his extraordinary career.
[This is a heavy, huge, very expensive book that can be borrowed from US public libraries.]
http://philosophyofscienceportal.blogspot.com/2010/08/deceased-joanna-t-steichen.html
This link is an interview Joanna gave to Steve Roberts on the Diane Rheim show in 1908.
Joanna Steichen died in August of 2010 at the age of 77.
