Clervaux Castle stands at a height of 365 meters on a rocky spur above the town, surrounded on 3 sides by a loop in the River Clerve
The exhibit of 500+ photographs progresses from babies to death with no descriptions, just the name of the photographer; I had an audioguide which provided more info like this being the drum major at the University of Michigan
Carl Sandburg was brother-in-law to Edward Steichen who curated The Family of Man exhibit while he was director of the photography department at NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art
Steichen wanted the photos to tell a story about life in a post-World World 2 era but also facing the Cold War and the threat of nuclear war
Steichen was said to have reviewed more than a million photographs for the exhibit; the final photographs were taken by 273 different photographers
In 2003 the Family of Man photographic collection was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register; it originally ran in 1955 at NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art
Without a caption it's fun to think of what you would call the photograph; this Dorothea Lange photo makes you feel sorry for the little boy
Clervaux Castle, in addition to The Family of Man Exhibition, also houses a Castles in Miniature Museum and a Museum of the Battle of the Bulge
This photo was part of a series with the cheater shown to be winning at the end of the hand; the photo exhibition toured the world in the 1950s and 1960s with millions viewing it
Each room of the exhibition had a different theme; The Family of Man has a permanent home at Clervaux Castle since that was the wish of Edward Steichen who was born in Luxembourg
This large photo shows a patchwork of fields atop a ridge in France; the exhibition was almost like a National Geographic view of people's lives at the time
This photo was taken in Texas but it didn't say where; before the internet and social media people used to actually chat with their neighbors
This Indiana crowd was enjoying a local variety show; the homogeneity of the audience struck me in these photos from the 1950s
I recognized the Opera Garnier in Paris from just having been there; after the devastating war years, people really seemed to have a zest for life
These lines of laundry were photographed in Hoboken, NJ; 75 photos originally appeared in Life magazine before being included in The Family of Man
The photos were taken in 68 different countries during the 1950s; while the clothes and physical characteristics differ, the human emotions were strikingly similar
Steichen was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by LBJ in 1963; in 2006, one of Steichen's earliest photos was sold at auction for $2.9 million which was a record at the time
From 1923 to 1938 Steichen was a photographer for Vogue and Vanity Fair; he also did work for advertising agencies including J Walter Thompson
This was the only photograph in the exhibition that showed black and white individuals together; for my generation, it's hard to imagine such a segregated society
These ladies just attended mass in Paris; they remind me of the strict nuns at Catholics schools I always heard about
Medical school lecture in Hungary; many of my favorite photos in the exhibition were, like this one, by Alfred Eisenstaedt
A ball hosted by French royalty; Steichen is credited as being the first fashion photographer with photos of gowns from 1911
This somber photo shows a German child going to school in his bombed out city; the castle is closed on Mondays and in January and February
This Sherman tank is the last surviving vehicle of the 9th armored division; it was put out of action here at the gate defending Clervaux Castle
Einstein ponders a problem in his paper-filled study in Princeton, NJ; Steichen only had 5 of his own photos included in the exhibition
Dr. Robert Oppenheimer discussing quantum theory with students at Princeton; the exhibition opened to rave reviews with praise for the universal themes shown
Lunch hour on Fifth Avenue in NYC; it seems strange that there would be so many more people in 1948 than in the same area today
Clervaux Castle was destroyed by fire during the Battle of the Bulge in WW2 but has not been fully rebuilt
I just loved this ivy-covered house right in the center of Clervaux; the trees, flowers and outdoor spaces are so typical as locals enjoy their summers since their winters are so long
The UN General Assembly; Steichen worked at NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art until 1962 when he retired to Connecticut
1526 Basilica of Saint Hubert; this is the former church of the Benedictine abbey, founded in the 7th century
This nuclear bomb test in the Marshall Islands destroyed the atoll it hit; having seen the destruction in Japan, Steichen was concerned about the use of nuclear weapons
