“There was a rumor that there were archives in the Condé Nast offices in New York that nobody had known about,” says Todd Brandow, a photography curator.
“It was difficult to get access, but when I finally got in, they told me that it had all been sold and nothing was left.
“But then the archivist rolled out these boxes of 2,000 prints. It was one of those great ‘oh my God’ moments.”
Among the prints were photographic portraits of Winston Churchill, Katharine Hepburn, HG Wells, George Gershwin, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, WB Yeats, Fred Astaire, and countless other luminaries of the 1920s and 1930s.
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Steichen lived the high life for several years, photographing the world’s most famous faces. But in 1935 he burned out, and resigned to spend his time on horticultural photography, which was his great passion.
“He really was one of the greats,” says Brandow. “He was the founding figure of modernism in photography and the modern woman in fashion photography, as well as modern portraiture.
“Revealing these secret photographs will finally bring him back to the prominence he deserves.”
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