He was then, and is still now, hailed as the best known and highest paid photographer of his generation. Perhaps it is this critical acclaim, amongst other things, that keep the critics talking. Like many prolific figures, Steichen’s work and career path were heavily criticized by his contemporaries. His departure from fine art to the highly commercial world of “slick and predictable” magazine photography was not well-received; believed to be a ‘desperate’, money-driven move. I believe ‘sell-out’ is the term the kids are using now. Yet it was his background that provided the perfect foundation for his innovative creations. As a “Romantic” Pictorialist, by definition of his early work, Steichen most likely subscribed to the idea that art photography had to emulate the paintings of the time. Steichen remained true to his conceptual ideals, for the first few years of employment anyway. Time passed and his love of soft lines gave way to a much harder edge. Steichen is credited with developing a sharp-focus technique, new at the time, by indulging in an elaborate system of artificial lighting which became an essential part of studio photography. Of this he said, “I realized that electric light would be my greatest ally in getting variety into fashion pictures. In the later years of my work for Vogue and Vanity Fair, there were lights all over the place”.

Steichen has been deemed controversial, but not for his use of light or the voyeuristic intimacy he created in his pictures. Nor is it due to his aspiration to “make Vogue the Louvre” by making art of photographs that, if placed elsewhere, would be seen as risqué. No, it was his presentation of the upper-class lifestyle that was viewed as “wealth porn”. Towards the end of his reign, Steichen moved into Modernism, ‘a socially progressive’ trend of thought, which is exactly what he was. This influential figure communicated fashion through a new medium. As Steichen famously said “take care of the photographs and the art will take care of itself”.