Edward Steichen

In this film Ariana Stahmer, great-granddaughter to Edward Steichen, and co-curator Todd Brandow, meet with FotoTV to discuss the Steichen retrospective exhibit in Paris. For the first time, many of the iconic photos of this exciting retrospective are being shown for the first time in Europe, and Stahmer and Brandow share anecdotes of the Steichen family history, as well as a celebrated history of Steichen’s work.

Steichen was an iconic photographer, one of the most influential and prolific photographers of the twentieth century. His early awareness of the impressionists was reflected through his ultra expressionistic works and his unusual and creative style, which was atypical of that era. But Steichen continued to experiment with new photographic techniques and 1914 marked the end of a certain style of photography for him.

Co-curator Brandow explains that beginning in 1915, Steichen successfully made the shift from pictorialism to modernism, his photos underwent a dramatic change, notably, marked by their luminous detail and their very life-like depiction. The photographic work he had experienced during the war infused him with a new passion for sharp-focused pictures and he developed a keener interest in the new technical advances in photography. His first fashion photographs were original and different and soon he began working out of a commercial studio in New York, specializing in advertising photography. He became a chief photographer for Condé Nast, thereafter producing atmospheric and legendary still lifes and editorial fashion stories for Vogue and Vanity Fair.

Of the many exhibitions Steichen created, the largest and most famous was "The Family of Man", an exhibition of over 500 photographs that depicted life, love and death. Stahmer explains that this particular exhibit is a brilliant legacy handed down by her great-grandfather, teeming with his humanist vision, and carrying the message of hope for mankind.