Tree Set 1 c. 1924

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph, Tree Set 1, with a camera and film, and what’s so cool is how he coaxes a whole range of grays from those materials, making you think about the physical process of photography itself. The way the branches reach up, almost clawing at the sky, it’s so dramatic. Look at the main tree trunk—it’s like a big, dark slash, a decisive mark against the softer, cloudier background. The bare branches? They’re like lines drawn in the air, each one a little different, each one doing its own thing. It’s a stark image, but it’s full of life. Stieglitz was part of the Photo-Secession movement, which was all about pushing photography as a fine art. You can see a similar sensibility in the work of Georgia O'Keeffe, who was married to Stieglitz. Both artists found ways to make the ordinary feel monumental. This piece isn’t just a picture of trees, it’s a whole mood.