Edward Steichen: Lives in Photography

With his prodigious range, versatility and output, Edward Steichen casts a long shadow in 20th-century photography, and this lushly produced book assesses his legacy. Wending through Steichen’s 70-year career, the book presents his early, impressionistic black-and-white nudes and portraits of luminaries such as Rodin as well as atmospheric still lives and editorial fashion shots for Vogue and Vanity Fair . Steichen experimented and excelled in every genre of photography and even his most commercial work shows more aesthetic consideration than product placement. The images are accompanied by insightful essays from a number of expert critics and curators, all of whom place Steichen in his proper context as one of the most influential and controversial artists of his time, alternately reviled as a parvenu and lauded as the Leonardo of photography. This book nimbly navigates divergent critical responses and brilliantly encapsulates the innovations and transformations of this pioneer of modern photography. (Apr.)