From the Back-Window—291 1915

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph, probably in New York, from a back window. It's a nocturnal scene, but it’s not just dark. The range of tones, from the deepest blacks to the gentle glow of the illuminated windows, suggest a delicate balancing act; a dance between light and shadow. You know, when I look at this, I can’t help but think of Georgia O’Keeffe. Stieglitz was her husband, but he was also a major champion of her work, and I wonder how much they talked about seeing, about light and dark, about how to make a picture. Take those buildings, for example. The way their forms emerge from the darkness – it’s like they’re breathing. The composition is built up of dark horizontal forms but it's the vertical repetition of the windows which hold the whole image up. It’s not static, though, more like a shifting, changing thing. There's something so generous about Stieglitz's work. Like Marsden Hartley, he embraces ambiguity and multiple interpretations.