Edward Steichen was one of the most regarded photographers of his time. He made some of the first modern fashion photographs.

A lesser-known project of his is a series of images he worked on for a couple nights.

These photographs (Three Views of Balzac) from 1908 were some of the first made with moonlight as the only light source.

More than a hundred years have passed, and they are still powerful, captivating images.

Keep in mind that there was no way to meter a scene like this by then -he had to play with different exposure times. He had an idea in mind, though, and he executed it to create art that hadn't been seen before.

Simply beautiful and inspiring.