From the beginning of man and womankind, humans have sought out ways to express themselves and translate information. From cave writings of migration patterns of herds of animals, to Roman cathedrals and wall murals, to today's fast paced technologically driven world of Television and internet. Can art be advertisements? Can advertisements be interchangeable with art?
             In 1923, an ad for Jergens lotion was printed featuring a photograph of a woman peeling potatoes. The text for the ad read: "Jergens lotion will protect against the ravages of housework". The text and the picture are all well and historic, but the groundbreaking aspect of this advertisement is the fact that it was taken by Edward Steichen, considered by many to be a revolutionary photographer who had earlier helped photography enter into the world of serious art. Steichen's career was started with painting, but then in the early 1900s he branched off into the, then, not yet deemed "art" of photography. He was a revolutionary who set out to make photography beautiful and more professional.
             By taking this photograph, Steichen's career turned from credible and serious artist to commercial photographer. Soon after the publication of the Jergens ad, Steichen was hired as the chief photographer for Conde Nest Publications, the home of famous magazines Vanity Fair and Vogue, still in print today. By accepting this position, he became the highest paid photographer of his time, earning 500 dollars per black and white print and a guaranteed 15,000 dollar salary a year. Also, upon signing Steichen, his employers at Conde Nest worried that he "wouldn't want to be associated with commercial work, and offered to remove his name from any fashion photographs he took", but Steichen refused. He wanted to have his name on all of his work, whether it was a dreamy photograph of a cityscape, or a photograph of a woman pealing ...