Edward Steichen Biography

Edward Steichen was a Luxembourgian-American photographer and painter. Ever since he came to the United States as a young boy he loved art and photography. He got his start in the art world at the age of 15 when he got a job at the American Fine Art Company. In his spare time he would work diligently to teach himself how to draw and paint. This continued for about a year until a nice secondhand camera in the camera shop across the street from his workplace caught his eye. He bought the camera and began the journey to the top of the photography industry. He is known for revolutionizing technique when it came to the color photography, most notably with the autochrome process. He worked at the prestigious Museum of Modern Art for 17 years. He served America in both the World Wars as a war photographer, and also won an Academy Award for his 1944 documentary ‘The Fighting Lady’, which depicted the life of a Navy officer during wartime. One of his photographs was sold for $2.9 million dollars, which is officially the most expensive photograph ever sold.