Making of ‘Flatiron – Evening’ (by Edward J. Steichen, 1904), 2016

The story behind the photograph…

The Luxembourg-born, Milwaukee-raised Edward J. Steichen (1879–1973) made his name as a photographer in the Pictorialist movement, which was defined by manipulation rather than straightforward recording of a subject. The image was thus ‘created’, thereby differentiating high art from the simple snapshot. For the ‘Flatiron’, made in 1904, Steichen suspended pigment in gum bichromate and applied this over a platinum print to emulate ‘painterly’ effects. He made three versions, one of which was selected by the influential leader of the Pictorialist circle, Alfred Stieglitz, for inclusion in the ‘International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography’ held at the Albright Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, in 1910. The photograph portrays the landmark Flatiron Building designed by architect Daniel Burnham for a triangular site at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway in New York. Steichen’s tonality deliberately echoes Whistler’s Nocturne paintings, and the inclusion of the tree branch recalls the Japanese ukiyo-e prints that were in vogue at the time. The building and street scene, however, convey American dynamism and modernity, with the glow of electric light and the soaring skyscraper cut off at the top of the frame. Steichen’s atmospheric image is representative of a particular period, but it has also achieved an aura of timelessness.