Steichen's twilight and moonlight photographs of the late 1890s were deeply influenced by the atmospheric effects of Whistler's London nocturnes and by the landscapes of the American Tonalist George Innes. In 1901 Steichen wrote of the visual magic of the woods at dusk: "What a beautiful hour of the day is that of the twilight when things disappear and seem to melt into each other, and this great feeling of peace overshadows all."
