Edward Steichen (1879-1973). Photogravure from Early Years Portfolio, 1900-1927. Aperture. 1981

Working in the early years of photography, Edward Steichen developed a groundbreaking, widely influential approach to the medium as he shot studio, aerial, editorial, and commercial pictures. Originally trained as a painter, Steichen made frames early in his career that embraced the soft focus, atmospheric composition, and retouched details that were also common to Alfred Stieglitz’s Pictorialist approach. During World War I, Steichen shifted to aerial photography in order to help the war effort. His subsequent work embraced a sleek, modernist aesthetic, which is reflected throughout the iconic fashion photographs he took while working at Vanity Fair and Vogue. He later became the director of the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art. Steichen has been the subject of solo shows at MoMA, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the International Center of Photography, and the George Eastman Museum. His work has sold for millions on the secondary market.