Georgia O'Keeffe Possibly 1918 - 1937

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph of Georgia O’Keeffe, printed on paper. Look at that face! I wonder what it was like for O’Keeffe, being the subject, and for Stieglitz, the artist, who was also her lover, behind the lens. The mood seems serious and a bit confrontational, what was it like to make this picture? Photography is so cool. I mean, it’s not exactly the same as painting but it is another way of seeing the world, of using your senses to explore and convey meaning. Stieglitz, like a painter, is manipulating light and shadow to create a mood, a feeling. He crops in close, focusing on her face and hands, framing the rest of the image with swirls of shadow. Her hands tug open her shirt, as if to expose herself. Is she trying to show us something? Maybe her toughness and vulnerability at the same time? Photographers and painters have always borrowed from each other. Stieglitz used his camera to compose a portrait of a painter! So much to see.