Time-Space Continuum

Edward J. Steichen

ca. 1920 · Gelatin silver print · Photographs

Following his service in World War I as chief of Allied aerial-reconnaissance photography, and prior to his highly successful career as chief photographer for Condé Nast magazines, Steichen experimented with giving abstract meanings to very literal photographs. The transparent bowl, floating planes, and elemental mineral substances of this picture evole an austere cosmos, while the locksmith's repertory of standard key profiles suggests the inadequacy of all codes, other than Einstein's, for unlocking the universe.

Artist

Edward J. Steichen

Date

ca. 1920

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor Company and John C. Waddell and Gift of Grace Mayer, 1988