Frances O'Brien 1926

Alfred Stieglitz made this gelatin silver print, titled 'Frances O'Brien', sometime in his lifetime. It’s incredible how Stieglitz coaxes so much from a black and white palette. It's a soft picture, with the gentle curves of the model’s body. There’s a beautiful transition of tone, from the lightest light to the darkest dark. It’s really quite subtle and speaks to his mastery of photography as a medium. I'm interested in the texture, that contrast between the skin and the darker patch of pubic hair. It's a detail that grounds the picture in the real. The grass too, that frames her body, root us to the earth, in a way. This work reminds me of some of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings, especially how she uses soft gradations of color to create a sense of form and depth. It's like they were both trying to capture the essence of something in their own unique way. What do you see?