Georgia O'Keeffe—Breasts 1919

This photograph, titled "Georgia O'Keeffe—Breasts," was made by Alfred Stieglitz. He employed gelatin silver print, a process that, by this time, had become relatively democratized. The image is not so much made as it is developed. Silver gelatin printing involves a series of chemical reactions to produce the final image. The inherent qualities of this process lend themselves to high contrast and sharp detail, which Stieglitz has used to great effect here. Stieglitz was deeply involved in promoting photography as a fine art. In this, he followed a familiar pattern: attempting to ennoble a mechanically produced medium through skillful manipulation and artistic vision, very much in line with the Arts and Crafts movement. The result is a testament to the power of photography not just to record, but also to interpret and transform its subject. It challenges our understanding of both photography and the human form.