Edward J. Steichen was at one point in history the most famous and well-paid photographer in the world. He was a jack-of-all-trades (photographically speaking). This above photo is of a dancer's daughter at the Acropolis in Greece. Steichen would manipulate the negatives to make certain effects. I don't know what he did to this one, but she looks like a Greek goddess, her clothing made from and flowing into the sky. It's fantastical.
This one seems unreal, dreamlike--the vibrantly white cloud contrasting impossibly with the darkness of the horizon and reflecting eerily on the rippled water.
Steichen took photos during war time and then became what was considered the world's first fashion photographer. Therefore, he was great at portraits. This one was in a collection called Juxtapositions. I like that I can't tell if it's a "civilized" gentleman with some other negatives processed over him or if it's a native man from somewhere (he took pictures documenting people in undeveloped countries, too).
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