Music—A Sequence of Ten Cloud Photographs, No. I or Clouds in 10 Movements, No. I 1922

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph, part of his "Music—A Sequence of Ten Cloud Photographs" series, hoping to capture something like music, a feeling or a moment, in monochrome. For Stieglitz, it was the process of observing and capturing light that really mattered. Look at the tonal range, from the deep blacks of the distant hills to the soft greys of the clouds. I think of the surface, the paper, as having a velvety texture; it invites touch, even though that’s forbidden. The house is a tiny geometric blip against the landscape. The drama is in the sky, with the heavy clouds bearing down, full of potential energy. It's a scene loaded with atmosphere, and a metaphor for the human condition. Stieglitz sought to elevate photography to the level of fine art and I feel this work has echoes of Romantic landscape painting, like something by Caspar David Friedrich. Ultimately, this image feels like it embraces ambiguity, inviting us to find our own emotional resonance within its shades of grey.