Sherwood Anderson 1923

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph of Sherwood Anderson using a camera and photographic paper, and you can find it at the Art Institute of Chicago. There's this beautiful tonal range, almost painterly, that Stieglitz coaxes from the monochrome. It feels like he's not just capturing a likeness but trying to get at something deeper. The way the light falls across Anderson’s face, the soft focus around the edges, it's like he’s sculpting with light. Look at the background; it's not just empty space. There’s something ambiguous going on back there – a kind of abstract shape that mirrors the complexity of Anderson himself. It's interesting how this single image is so similar to the photo-secessionist movement. Much like Edward Steichen, Stieglitz is bringing the concerns and sensibilities of painting to photography, thinking about photography as a fine art in itself, rather than purely a documentary tool. Ultimately art is an ongoing conversation between artists.