Introduction

YAUB (Yet Another Unfocused Blog)

Much of advertising photography is so standardized that we don't reflect on it. Consider the typical product shot. The small product sits on a table with a plain surface. The lighting is clean and unobtrusive. The camera looks down at an angle. The background is stark. All this seems inevitable, but someone had to develop it for the world of product advertising. Much of the credit for this can be attributed to Steichen adopting a modernist sense to American marketing between the two world wars.
He was THE advertising photographer of the 20's and 30's. He went from being a successful fine art photographer making a modest income, to being a striding, pretentious ad photographer dominating a huge studio. Who would have guess that Modernism, an art movement closely associated with Socialism, could sell products so well?

Real Fantasies follows his exploits hawking frocks, lotion, and TP. The TP ads are my favorite. Scott managed to convince people that using other brands could cause unhappy children and serious illness. A little girl gazes up at her mother. The copy reads, "Mother, why am I so sore and uncomfortable?" The text goes on to discuss how inferior toliet paper can cause anal itching and a really unhappy kid. One ad is almost absurdist. A surgeon and nurse in the middle of some sort of delicate procedure look down on an unseen patient. "...and the trouble began with harsh toilet tissue" reads the caption. Funny, but really very sinister.

Well, I could on about the pandering to women's fears and fantasies. Steichen could understand the potential of advertising to women, and it eventually became his speciality. I could explain how the world of advertising changed lots during his time when photography went from being rare in print ads to being the dominate form of illustration. And then came color photography. Edward Steichen wasted no time taking advantage of the selling qualities of color photos. Come young, come old, come all, and see the beginnings of modern advertising in Real Fantasies be Patricia Johnston. She does have the plodding style of an art historian, but the illustrations keeps things interesting.