Georgia O'Keeffe 1936

Editor: Here we have a photograph entitled *Georgia O'Keeffe,* taken by Alfred Stieglitz in 1936. The medium is photography, of course, and it's a very striking portrait in black and white. It seems almost confrontational. What can you tell me about it? Curator: Well, it's a very deliberate construction, isn't it? We see O'Keeffe, an established artist by this point, through Stieglitz’s lens, literally and figuratively. Stieglitz, of course, was instrumental in promoting modern art in America and was a huge influence in establishing photography as an art form in its own right. Do you think it tells a story beyond just being a portrait? Editor: I think so, yes. I see a conscious attempt to portray O’Keeffe as serious and independent, maybe even defiant. Like she's daring you to underestimate her. It goes against some of the contemporary ideas about how women were perceived in art at that time, maybe even still today? Curator: Precisely. Consider the power dynamics at play here. Stieglitz, as both the artist and O'Keeffe's husband, was in a position to shape her public image. Yet, O'Keeffe herself was an active participant in that process, so how do you read the negotiation of her image, her agency, in this portrait? The photograph was not objective. Think about how its creation might affect how we, today, see not just O’Keefe, but also how women artists generally are seen in the museums or how gender representation is often played out in art. Editor: That makes a lot of sense. So the photograph is a document, but it's also an intervention, changing how O'Keeffe, and by extension, other women artists, are viewed within the art world's power structures. That’s incredibly insightful. Curator: And how art historical narratives can evolve under these pressures of agency. Editor: This has given me so much to think about! Curator: Indeed, how an artwork and its reception constantly evolve, and can be analyzed with social consciousness.