In Memoriam: Steve Steigman, 62
October 28, 2004
By Jay DeFoore
Steve Steigman, the commercial photographer whose business savvy laid the foundation for many of the standard practices in use today, died in his home in Quogue, Long Island Oct. 18. He was 62.
"Steve passed away after suffering from depression," Peggy Flaum, Steigman's wife, stated.
Steigman was the first photographer to separate creative fees from expenses, and his innovative approach to the business--limiting duration and usage on his photography--became the model for others. His best-known photograph, a popular icon that has served as Maxell's logo since the 1980s, shows a hair-blown man sitting in front of a speaker.
"Steve was a pioneer in limiting rights, and that was one of the first major photos using restricted rights," says Gary Hurewitz of Hurewitz Creative Partners, one of Steigman's early reps.
The Maxell photo was the brainchild of art director Lars Anderson, but Steigman made no secret that he took the photo. The photographer once went so far as to rent an airplane that pulled a banner with the photo and his name prominently displayed as the photo credit.
Known as "the father of modern self-promotion," Steigman's antics took the idea of promotion to the extreme. He once sent art directors carrier pigeons in a box with a note tied to their legs. When the art directors let the pigeons out their office windows, the birds flew back to their owner with a note asking to see Steigman's book.
Hurewitz says one of Steigman's schemes was to use a helicopter to drop the photographer's promo cards in front of ad agencies during lunch time, but Steigman scrapped the idea after realizing it wouldn't be legally possible.
Steigman was one of the top advertising photographers in the Eighties, shooting campaigns for Miller Lite and Nike. His photograph of tennis great John McEnroe standing in front of the Brooklyn Bridge was one of the first Nike campaigns to use star athletes.
The photographer parlayed his successful print business, known as Big City Productions, into a burgeoning film business. He made several smart real estate investments that left him with a small fortune.
"He didn't make it as big in TV as print," Hurewitz says. "The businessman part of him worked real well in print, but in TV it became a hindrance because he became too involved in the business."
The high school dropout from Brooklyn never went to school for photography. As a teenager, Steigman began volunteering in the studio of photographer Joe Schneider, and eventually became an apprentice. He opened his own studio at the age of 21, then unheard of in the industry.
"What made Steve exceptional was that the creativity was not just in his art but in everything he did," says Brian Coles, Steigman's business partner and best friend over the last decade. "He really had a whole different way of looking at the world."
Friends describe Steigman as an energetic, self-critical photographer who was both logical and a dreamer.
Steigman is survived by his wife, Peggy Flaum, and daughter, Willy Sarah Steigman, of Riverdale and Quogue, New York and Crackers, his dog.
The family is setting up a scholarship fund in Steve Steigman's honor. Check the December issue of PDN for more information.
www.stevesteigman.com