Photography Research Information
Alfred Stieglitz
January 1, 1864 to July 13, 1946
Personal Background
Stieglitz was the oldest of six children, and was a born and raised American. His first education was a Christian School in New York, in 1871. Then, in 1882, he started attending school in Berlin, while also studying with the famous photochemist Hermann Vogel. This is where he first discovered his love for photography, and became extremely invested and popular. In 1902, he created an organization called the Photo-Secession, which was committed to labeling photography as an art form.
Style:
His photos have a sense of wonder and mystery, and they play with lighting a lot. Lots of the characters featured in his pictures are moving or situated in a fluid way, which incorporates movement and momentum into the frame. Most of his photos are of a city, street, or an urban landscape. He had a transition in the subject of his photos around 1922, and started taking many photos of clouds and the sky in general. The style of his photographs is very straight-forward and captures a heavy sense of reality without editing or fancy framework, just people living their lives.
Philosophy:
Stieglitz strongly believed that photography was a true art form, and that the best photographs were simply a frozen moment of time, instead of a polished aesthetic filtered one. Specifically in his Equivalents photo gallery, he said that “Through clouds [I wanted] to put down my philosophy of life—to show that my photographs were not due to subject matter—not to special trees, or faces, or interiors, to special privileges, clouds were there for everyone—no tax as yet on them—free.” His approach to photography and opinions on it could be considered personal, because he tended to put a lot of himself into his photos. However, he also founded the genre of photography called Pictorialist photography, which could also be considered a political contribution to the world of photography.
Influences:
Stieglitz has inspired me to look for naturally beautiful moments in life instead of trying to make one myself, and to view photography as a tool to showcase our world instead of a way to change it and make it better. He was inspired largely by his wife and friend Georgia O’Keefe, who was also an artist. He was influenced by the American photographer Paul Strand, whose photographs are considered American modernism. Stieglitz is also known as a modernist photographer, which could either be because of his own ideas or because of Strand’s influence on him.
Alfred Stieglitz
January 1, 1864 to July 13, 1946
Personal Background
Stieglitz was the oldest of six children, and was a born and raised American. His first education was a Christian School in New York, in 1871. Then, in 1882, he started attending school in Berlin, while also studying with the famous photochemist Hermann Vogel. This is where he first discovered his love for photography, and became extremely invested and popular. In 1902, he created an organization called the Photo-Secession, which was committed to labeling photography as an art form.
Style:
His photos have a sense of wonder and mystery, and they play with lighting a lot. Lots of the characters featured in his pictures are moving or situated in a fluid way, which incorporates movement and momentum into the frame. Most of his photos are of a city, street, or an urban landscape. He had a transition in the subject of his photos around 1922, and started taking many photos of clouds and the sky in general. The style of his photographs is very straight-forward and captures a heavy sense of reality without editing or fancy framework, just people living their lives.
Philosophy:
Stieglitz strongly believed that photography was a true art form, and that the best photographs were simply a frozen moment of time, instead of a polished aesthetic filtered one. Specifically in his Equivalents photo gallery, he said that “Through clouds [I wanted] to put down my philosophy of life—to show that my photographs were not due to subject matter—not to special trees, or faces, or interiors, to special privileges, clouds were there for everyone—no tax as yet on them—free.” His approach to photography and opinions on it could be considered personal, because he tended to put a lot of himself into his photos. However, he also founded the genre of photography called Pictorialist photography, which could also be considered a political contribution to the world of photography.
Influences:
Stieglitz has inspired me to look for naturally beautiful moments in life instead of trying to make one myself, and to view photography as a tool to showcase our world instead of a way to change it and make it better. He was inspired largely by his wife and friend Georgia O’Keefe, who was also an artist. He was influenced by the American photographer Paul Strand, whose photographs are considered American modernism. Stieglitz is also known as a modernist photographer, which could either be because of his own ideas or because of Strand’s influence on him.
Part 2: Photographs
Equivalent, 1925 (Stieglitz) Drifting Visions above the Birds
Source
My main struggle when trying to recreate this photo was that I wanted a similar texture of clouds at first, because I wanted to be purposeful with the final look of the photograph. However, I eventually decided that my own style of a cloud picture would better fit the idea behind the Equivalent gallery. I also found a bird to include in the center of mine, because it brought in a focal point and sense of interest in the photograph. I really like how the contrast in both photographs is prominent and brings out the equal values of the clouds.
Georgia O’Keefe – Hands (Stieglitz) Something in the Distance
Source
Something I really like about these photographs is the positioning of the hands, and the coloring of the photos. It was fairly difficult to recreate the sepia-toned color of the original, but I think I got pretty close to recreating it. I think the background and the look of the hands are definitely similar, and I can tell that they were based on each other. Although the original has a sense of movement given the slightly blurred fingers, I think mine still achieves that movement due to the look of the fingers.
Cabbage Leaf (Stieglitz) Pondering the Crisp Leaves
Source
My main problem with these photos is definitely the fact that I used two different types of vegetables to make the picture, since we didn’t have any cabbage. However, I put a lot of thought into how to take the picture when it came to lighting and contrast. I draped a blanket over a solid surface to create a dark background, found two leaves of kale, and used a flashlight to include a direct, angled, sharp source of light that would provide the appropriate contrast I needed.
Personal Artist Statement:
I had a really interesting time attempting to recreate Stieglitz’ photographs. I feel much more confident in my ability to take photographs with good composition, and my knowledge of elements such as contrast and focal points. When it comes to meaning, I think the cloud photographs represent the equality and balance we see in life, the purpose we have in the universe, and how lots of people tend to wonder about those things (like gazing into the clouds.) The hands symbolize our personal strengths and struggles when it comes to finding our identities and fitting into the world, basically what comes after wondering and dreaming. Finally, the kale/cabbage represents the comforts we find in life, and the many varieties of opportunities that will be shown to us. The many shadows and lights in the food are what embody the diverse possibilities that we can look forward to in the future.
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