Steichen's The Family of Man

A very different kind of exhibition, Edward Steichen's The Family of Man (1955), also debuted in the 1950's, but unlike Frank's work--which went largely ignored for many years--it generated great acclaim. A former photographer for the military, Steichen witnessed a great deal of combat during World War II, and became convinced of the potential to document history through images. His decision to assemble a massive collection of photographs from around the world had its basis in a universalist impulse, a desire to create a sense of harmony in the postwar era. Sponsored by the Rockefeller Family, the exhibit opened at The Museum of Modern Art in 1955, before beginning a tour of cities around the globe (perhaps most significantly, Moscow, in 1959) with the assistance of the United States Information Agency. The images in the collection focus predominantly on the twin themes of family and home, reinforcing the common bonds which exist among nations. According to Sandeen (1995), the exhibit's popularity derived from its humanistic themes, a development made possible by the dehistoricized content of the images.

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