Georgia O'Keeffe 1919 - 1921

This is a photograph of Georgia O'Keeffe by Alfred Stieglitz, but when and with what, exactly, is anyone's guess - that's part of the fun! What’s visible is the mark making of light itself. A range of soft and grainy sepia tones creating a kind of haze, a blur; a record of movement, time. There's a really striking contrast between the smoothness of O'Keeffe’s skin, and the slightly distressed background. It’s like there's a tension between the classical portrait and something altogether rawer. It’s the kind of visual effect achieved in the dark room, the alchemical theater of early photography. Think about how Lee Miller also used photography to explore surrealist ideas of identity and representation. There's a similar interest in ambiguity, in questioning what we see, and how we see it. Art isn't about answers, it's about the conversation, the questions.