New York from 405 E 54th Street 1937

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph, New York from 405 E 54th Street, with a camera, some time around the turn of the century. What I love about photography is how it captures a specific moment, but also hints at so many other unseen, unfelt things. I imagine Stieglitz looking out of his window, seeing the river, the boats, and the tennis courts below. What was he thinking? What was it like to live in New York then, with all this industry and leisure side by side? I feel a sense of nostalgia mixed with something else, maybe a little bit of melancholy. The smokestack on the boat is a strong vertical mark which echoes the buildings of the skyline. And the way the light falls on the water makes it seem almost like it is made of paint. Stieglitz was part of a community of artists, all bouncing ideas off one another. Photography, like painting, is all about seeing and feeling, and I find a lot of common ground between these different art forms.