Edward Steichen

Photography is a major force in explaining man to man.

Every other artist begins with a blank canvas, a piece of paper the photographer begins with the finished product.

When that shutter clicks, anything else that can be done afterward is not worth consideration.

Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man.

I knew, of course, that trees and plants had roots, stems, bark, branches and foliage that reached up toward the light. But I was coming to realize that the real magician was light itself.

The boy and girl going hand in hand through a meadow the mother washing her baby the sweet simple things in life. We have almost lost track of them. On the one side we overintel-lectualize everything on the other hand we are over-mechanized. We can understand the danger of the atomic bomb but the danger of our misunderstanding the meaning of life is much more serious.

Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face - the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man.