Winter, New York c. 1893 - 1932

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph, Winter, New York, sometime in his lifetime, and he has built it using tones and shades. It’s a bit like how I approach painting—layering and adjusting until the image emerges. The surface of the print is gorgeous, it's got this tactile quality that makes you want to reach out and touch it. You can almost feel the chill in the air, and the way the light filters through the snow is just incredible. Look at how the buildings fade into the background, all blurry and dreamlike. The tonal range in the buildings is stunning, from almost white to a dark, dark black. It's a city, but softened, made gentle with a blanket of snow. Stieglitz, like the Impressionist painters, captured a moment in time, a fleeting impression of the world around him. There is a lovely visual dialogue between their work and his; both share an interest in light, atmosphere, and the changing seasons. Neither gives you the whole story, just enough to begin making up your own.