Untitled (World War I photographs) Possibly 1918 - 1919

Curator: At first glance, it feels… restrained, almost reluctant to reveal itself. What do you see? Editor: This is a photo album attributed to Edward Steichen, likely compiled between 1918 and 1919. The Art Institute of Chicago holds this collection titled "Untitled (World War I photographs)" comprising albumen prints documenting the Great War. Curator: The Great War. It has an unvarnished and bleak feel, doesn’t it? The darkness in the cover suggests so much loss, not just life, but innocence, perhaps? Editor: Note how Steichen, celebrated for his fashion and celebrity portraiture, applies impressionistic principles here—blurring the lines between art and documentation. The photographs, preserved in a worn album, confront us with stark juxtapositions, embodying the material traces of history, and the fragility of remembrance. Curator: He's one of those photographers that you can feel had deep involvement in everything that he did. He wasn't simply documenting; he was feeling everything and recording those sensations along with the visible subject matter. And look how time touches the album cover itself, the scuffed corners, a story etched onto the surface, if you will. I suppose, the overall monochrome palette also evokes somber feelings, doesn’t it? Editor: Indeed, consider this stark album cover, its form reduced to bare, formal elements—line, texture, tone, framing our experience and conditioning our perspective. Each formal element channels a complex engagement with subjectivities embedded into this historical artifact. It provokes profound existential, historical questions, as we examine the intricate relationships of seeing and knowing that underpin perception. Curator: Steichen provides his truth about this pivotal war through these albumen prints, using imagery as a tool of somber and emotional record keeping, a visual journal reflecting, if you like, the collective conscience of a world-altering experience. It is almost unbearable. What Steichen offers in his prints, preserved inside this austere album cover, speaks to both his genius and an enduring impact left by these poignant glimpses into one of human history’s darkest eras. Editor: Through its structure and materiality, Steichen directs us to grapple with art's role in bearing witness to profound societal trauma, thereby positioning itself critically amidst the cultural politics of remembering and forgetting. It shows the power of visual representation in structuring understanding.