Georgia O'Keeffe 1920 - 1922

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph of Georgia O’Keeffe, his muse and wife, using a camera, of course, and a careful understanding of light and shadow. Look at the way the tones shift almost imperceptibly. Stieglitz coaxes the details from the darks, so much so that O'Keeffe almost emerges out of the gloom. The texture of her woolen cloak, and the way it hangs off her shoulder creates a sculptural quality that is echoed in the smooth curves of her hat, and the soft planes of her face. It's as if Stieglitz is showing us how he sees her – not just as a figure, but as a form, a shape, a presence. The framing is interesting too, she’s off-center, cropped. This reminds me a little of Edward Steichen, who was also working with photography as a means of portraiture around the same time. But where Steichen went in for artifice and glamour, Stieglitz seems to be reaching for something more direct, more authentic. He isn't trying to create a fiction, he's trying to capture a truth.