Halsman Archive File 08 -Edward Steichen 1959

It's not everyday that a photo legend comes to your studio for a portrait, but then to ask the 80 year old to jump for you takes some gall. Steichen, who was then in his 12th year as the director of the MoMA’s photo department, was up for the challenge. He put a little paper on the ground to indicate where the camera was in focus , and took a running start before launching himself in the air. His arms are raised up triumphantly, similar to many of the CEOs that Halsman had photographed for his jumpology series. In many ways, Steichen was the CEO of the photography world. He originally was a painter, but a meeting with Alfred Stieglitz in NY helped inspire him to photograph the great artist of Paris, where he had moved in 1900. By 1902 he had moved back to NY and started the Photo-Secession movement with Stieglitz, and a few years later published the magazine Camera Work which was the platform to launch French avant-garde photographers into the consciousness of America. After a brief stint with the US Army he began working for magazines like Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Harpers Bazaar. From 1947 to 1962 he was the director of Photography at MoMA. One of the largest projects he initiated was the 1955 exhibition “The Family of Man.”