Time-Space Continuum
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.
Artwork Details
- Title: Time-Space Continuum
- Artist: Edward J. Steichen (American (born Luxembourg), Bivange 1879–1973 West Redding, Connecticut)
- Date: ca. 1920
- Medium: Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions: 20.0 x 24.3 cm (7 7/8 x 9 9/16 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor Company and John C. Waddell and Gift of Grace Mayer, 1988
- Object Number: 1987.1100.468
- Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
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