Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen (1879-1973), American photographer, who sought an emotional, impressionistic rendering of his subjects and strove to have photography recognized as a serious art form.

Steichen was born in Luxembourg on March 27, 1879, and brought to the United States as a child. He began working in photography at 16, and went to Paris to study painting at 21. In New York City he joined (1905) the American photographer Alfred Stieglitz in establishing a gallery that became known as “291,” where many important 20th-century painters received their first American showings. The following year Steichen returned to Paris, where he experimented with painting, photography, and the crossbreeding of plants.

In 1923 Steichen returned to New York City as chief photographer for Vanity Fair and Vogue magazines. Among the famous people he photographed for Vanity Fair are the American actor Greta Garbo and the British actor Charlie Chaplin. In 1938 Steichen retired to his West Redding, Connecticut, farm. During World War II he directed a U.S. Navy combat photography team.

In 1947 Steichen was appointed director of photography for the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He prepared The Family of Man, a photographic exhibit (1955) that later toured the world and in book form sold 3 million copies. His work is collected in the Museum of Modern Art and Eastman House, Rochester, New York. He died in West Redding on March 25, 1973.