"We Were Always There..."

Alfred (Bob) Steffen

What I Like About This: Here is an image of Alfred Jonathan Steffen (1928-2012), affectionately called Bob or Bobes by family and friends.  What makes this image so unique is that this photograph of Steffen was taken sometime around 1948-50. Steffen was a remarkable man, a bon vivant who lived openly as a gay man through WWII and until his death in 2012. His carefree ability to live his life as he chose was certainly aided by the fact that he lived in officially neutral Switzerland, where progressive attitudes about homosexuality were the norm even in the pre-war years. Steffen made his mark in the world as a trained decorator who set new standards with innovative staging of textiles and the plethora of synthetic materials that arose following the war.  In the boom of the post-war, reconstruction years in Europe, Bob Steffen became famous and sought after not only as an interior decorator, but as a commercial designer creating window scenes for the finest luxury brands that were often described as more "high art" than "high street." Steffen embraced life and his homosexuality with bravado as he travelled the world rubbing shoulders with royals and Hollywood superstars. He is today best known for the beautiful bohemian images of him taken by friend and photographer Werner Brandi.  Steffen lived a remarkable life for a man born of his generation and he left us a legacy of images of the beauty of his youth to remind us that, "we were always there."