Even Great Photographers Had to Start Somewhere

Edward Steichen, one of the great pioneer photographers, had a less than amazing experience when he first started taking photos.

This great photographic artist was one of the talented people of the early 1900s who helped change the attitudes toward photography which was viewed as a novelty or a fad whereas painting was considered high art.

Photography eventually found a home in the world of art and Steichen won many awards but back in 1895 when he obtained his first camera he was not an instant success.

In the book, A life in Photography, Steichen recounts how he got started in photography as a teenager living in Milwaukee. As I began reading, I expected to learn how even from day one he produced great art as his natural talent flowed out. Wrong. Steichen said the first camera he purchased was a Kodak that took a roll of 50 exposures. The result of his first roll was 49 misses and one hit. Yikes.

But he kept trying and later he upgraded to a camera that used 4x5 glass plates. In the book he told how he took a photo of a skyscraper in Milwaukee and then in his home darkroom started to develop the plate. As the young photographer submerged the glass plate in the tray of chemicals and rocked the solution back and forth the image appeared causing him to feel great satisfaction. He celebrated with a loud whoop of joy which frightened his mother because she was worried about all those poisonous chemicals he was using. But he assured her that what she heard was a shout joy not distress.

But as the developing process continued Steichen’s joy faded because the photo kept turning darker and darker. Being a novice Steichen had figured the exposure wrong and set the camera to allow too much light onto the plate. Eventually, the image on his plate was so dark that nothing was recognizable. Finally, as he completed the process and took his image upstairs to rinse it in the sink. He was determined to get a print and after an all day exposure was able to get enough light to pass through his overexposed plate to make a decent print of the Milwaukee skyscraper.

As the months and years passed Steichen began exhibiting his work and building a reputation as a professional photographer. He forged bonds with the Museum of Modern Art where his photos and those of other photographers were displayed for the public. In my opinion the pinnacle of his artistic expressions was the “Family of Man” exhibition of 1955.

This amazing exhibit of photos from 68 nations taken by great and unknown photographers showed people living, eating, dancing, playing, fighting, laughing, giving birth and dying. A book by the same name became an international best seller.

So even if his first roll of film was only two percent successful, Steichen went to become a great pioneering photographer praised by artists, writers and the general public.