FRAGMENTS | Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and curator, who at the age of 60, after retirement, was invited by the United States Navy to serve as Director of the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit during WWII.

In 1942, Steichen and his six chosen photographers began their service with the Naval Aviation Unit. By the end of the war, Steichen was in charge of the Navy’s combat camera crews amounting to 4,000 photographers. They photographed from surface ships, submarines, and aircrafts and visited numerous factories to document the events of World War II.

"Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man. " - E. Steichen

'End of a Judy' - Japanese pilot parachutes after bring shot down during a kamikaze attempt, 1945 | Edward Steichen

Attack on Japanese merchant type vessel in Tonolei Harbor area, Solomon Islands

1943 | Edward Steichen

Japanese bomb hits flight deck of the USS Enterprise | 1942 | Edward Steichem

Night pattern of anti-aircraft fire - Okinawa | 1945 | Edward Steichen

Japanese plane met with heavy opposition, surrounded by burst of tracer fire on Saipan

1944 | Edward Steichen