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MOONLIGHT: THE POND by Edward Steichen
Is Edward Steichen’s ethereal image a photograph or a
painting? It’s both, and that was exactly his point. Steichen
photographed the wooded scene in Mamaroneck, N.Y.,
hand-colored the black-and-white prints with blue tones
and may have even added the glowing moon. The blur-
ring of two mediums was the aim of Pictorialism, which
was embraced by professional photographers at the turn
of the 20th century as a way to differentiate their work
from amateur snapshots taken with newly available hand-
held cameras. And no single image was more formative
than Moonlight.
The year before he created Moonlight, Steichen wrote
an essay arguing that altering photos was no different than
choosing when and where to click the shutter. Photogra-
phers, he said, always have a perspective that necessarily
distorts the authenticity of their images. Although Steichen
eventually abandoned Pictorialism, the movement’s influ-
ence can be seen in every photographer who seeks to create
scenes, not merely capture them. Moonlight, too, continues
to resonate. A century after Steichen made the image, a
print sold for nearly $3 million.