While color photography was available as a standardized process as early as 1907, it had difficulty finding acceptance in a fine art world dismissive of its commercial connotations and was denigrated by photographers like Ansel Adams and Robert Frank. As a student and eventually professor at the New Bauhaus (now the Institute of Design) in Chicago, Siegel embraced a more expansive understanding of photography. While many of his compositions at the time were experimental and abstract, his series In Search of Myself explored philosophical questions about consumerism and personal fulfillment.

This example presents a seemingly straightforward street scene. As a woman considers the dozens of shoe options in this one window, the vibrant colors and dense composition emphasize the bounty of the American postwar economy. Yet the poetic title has the viewer looking for a hidden self-portrait of the photographer, or perhaps of themselves.

—Text taken from the Carter Handbook (2023)