Edward Steichen Fashion Photography

By Megan Kim

Table of Contents

BiographyEarly Years

Beginning

New York

Then

Fashion

Later Years

Photography style

Examples

Bibliography

Biography –Early Years

Edward Steichen was born in Luxembourg on March 27, 1879

In 1881 his family moved to Hancock, Michigan

He showed a passion for art at a young age

He took up photography in 1895 when he was sixteen and was self-taught

Between the years of 1894-1898, Edward Steichen apprenticed as a designer for a lithographic company in Milwaukee, studied painting, and helped to organize an Art Students League

In 1896 his father bought him a camera and he started to develop an obsession for photography

Beginning of His Photography

In 1898 some of his photographs were accepted at the Second Philadelphia Salon of Pictorial Photography

They were called “ultra expressionistic” by critics

Meanwhile, he was also the president of a Milwaukee Art Student's League

In 1900 he decided to study art and paintings in Paris

In 1906-1914 he lived in Paris where he continued to study painting and photography

New YorkOn his way to Paris he stopped in New York and met Alfred Stieglitz

Stieglitz was one of America’s foremost photographers, he was working towards photography becoming a fine art

Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen became good friends

Steichen was a confounder with Stieglitz of the Photo-Secession

An organization dedicated to photography as a fine art, and its exhibition gallery, called "291” Gallery

The gallery introduced America paintings, drawings, and photographs by different artists

Steichen’s photographs became widely exhibited and the most famous were his portraits of J. P. Morgan and Auguste Rodin

Then…

World War I Steichen was in command of all aerial photography of the American Expeditionary Force

He retired as lieutenant colonel in 1919 and lived in Voulangis, France

At this time he stopped painting, and started focusing more on the camera

He wanted to emphasize sharpness and texture

In 1922 he moved back to America where he then opened a commercial studio in New York which focused on advertising photography

Beginning of Fashion

Steichen started producing fashion illustrations around 1923

He designed fashion portraits and illustrations for Vanity Fair and Vogue magazines

By 1938 he had saved enough money to close his studio and move to France

However, in world war II (1942) he was the lieutenant commander and he was put in charge of all Navy combat photography

Later YearsWhen Steichen was 68 years old he was named the director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York

His largest most famous exhibition was “The Family of Man” it consisted of 503 photographs toured overseas and all throughout America

It became a best seller

He also held an exhibition of his own photography a year later

He received the Medal of Freedom by President John F. Kennedy

He continued to experiment with more photo techniques after he retired in 1961

Edward Steichen died in 1973

Photography Style

Fashion Photography is…

• a genre of photography devoted to displaying clothing and other fashion items. Fashion photography is most often conducted for advertisements or fashion magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, or Elle. Over time, fashion photography has developed its own aesthetic in which the clothes and fashions are enhanced by the presence of exotic locations or accessories

TITLE: Vogue Fashion Evening

ARTIST: Edward Steichen

WORK DATE: 1930

CATEGORY: Photographs

REGION: American

STYLE: Modern

Taken in: 1924

Photographer: Edward Steichen

Actress Gloria Swanson

“…I took a piece of black lace veil and hung it in front of her face, She recognized the idea at once. Her eyes dilated and, her look was that of a leopardess lurking behind leafy shrubbery, watching her prey."

Gloria Swanson

TITLE: Marlene Dietrich, Hollywood

ARTIST: Edward Steichen

DATE: 1931

CATEGORY: Photographs

REGION: American

STYLE: Modern

CATALOGUE(S): Danziger Gallery Inventory Catalogue 

TITLE: Greta Garbo, Hollywood

ARTIST: Edward Steichen

WORK DATE: 1928

CATEGORY: Photographs

REGION: American

STYLE: Modern

GALLERY: Danziger Gallery  212-629-6778  Send Email

ONLINE CATALOGUE(S): Danziger Gallery Inventory Catalogue  

Vogue

Even

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Shoe

s

My Favourite

THE END

http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/steichen/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8snpwv1yya8&feature=related

Bibliography

Encyclopedia of World Biography 2005-06 http://www.bookrags.com/biography/edward-steichen/

Lee Gallery http://www.leegallery.com/edward-steichen/edward-steichen-biography

ArtNet 2012 http://www.artnet.com/artwork/426145400/117084/edward-steichen-marlene-dietrich-hollywood.html