Georgia O'Keeffe 1935

Here is a photograph of Georgia O’Keefe by Alfred Stieglitz. The gray scale gives a clarity that is both intimate and distant. The stark reality of the everyday is captured here. She is holding onto the porch pillar, and the shadow on the wall divides the photograph. This photo exists because Stieglitz saw something, he caught something, and now we have it too. I’m imagining O’Keefe standing there and thinking how it is to be the subject of a portrait. Does she trust him? Is she bored? There is something a bit tense in her shoulders, like she is holding back. I feel for her, as a fellow artist, trying to make a picture and also be in one. I think that the best images are collaborative between artist and subject. It shows you something about the artist, how they choose to represent themselves, and something about the relationship between artist and sitter.