Equivalent, from Set A (Third Set, Print 6) 1929

Alfred Stieglitz captured this image, “Equivalent, from Set A,” using photography, a medium that, like painting, freezes a moment to make it timeless. Looking at it now, I’m thinking about the artist trying to capture something so ephemeral. Those clouds, like thoughts, shifting and changing shape. It’s like he wanted to pin down the sky, to find an equivalent for his own feelings up there in the ether. I can imagine him looking up, squinting, adjusting his lens, trying to find the right balance of light and shadow. Maybe he was thinking about how fleeting life is, or maybe he was just trying to make a beautiful picture. That interplay of light and dark really gets me. It’s like a conversation between what’s hidden and what’s revealed. Stieglitz, like all artists, was trying to make sense of the world through his work, and in doing so, he’s invited us to join him in the process. The conversation continues.