Pictorialism

Edward Steichen, The flatiron, 1904

This image shows one of New York's firsts skyscrapers, it consists of only 22 floors. The soft, unsharpened layer over the whole photograph, gives a real painting feel. Steichen added colour to his photograph, casting it in a moody, blue glow. which I think gives it a cold, winter feel. Edward Jean Steichen was an American photographer, painter, and art gallery and museum curator. For a period of time he also did military Photography then went on to be the photographer for vogue and vanity fair. This photograph portrays the time it was set by the silhouette of the gentleman wearing a top hat. Around the time of this photograph there was the "first message to travel around the world" and also the first silent movie, "the Great Train Robbery", these thing may both of influenced steichen. Even though a picture is silent just like the film, I think he wanted it to have a deeper meaning maybe even a story but without text, it gives the viewer a chance to decide how the image makes them feel and what message it may be portraying and how it relates to them personally.