Georgia O'Keeffe—Hands 1918

This photogravure of Georgia O'Keeffe's hands was made by Alfred Stieglitz sometime in the early 20th century. I wonder what it was like to make this photograph. It has a very sensual and tactile quality, all those silvery gradations and the deep, muted browns. Stieglitz captures not only the physical appearance of O’Keeffe’s hands but also their expressive potential. The arrangement of the fingers, the way they intertwine, the subtle tension in the muscles – it all feels so intimate. There’s a push and pull here between vulnerability and strength, and the hands almost seem to communicate a language all of their own. I think that in this image, and across Stieglitz's work, we can see how artists, whether they're photographers or painters, are in constant dialogue, borrowing, and riffing off each other’s ideas. It's an ongoing conversation! It reminds me that art is never created in a vacuum, it's always a response to what came before.