The City of Ambitions 1910

Curator: This is Alfred Stieglitz’s photograph "The City of Ambitions," taken in 1910. It resides here at The Art Institute of Chicago. Editor: Ambitions, huh? It looks like a fever dream, to be honest. All that swirling mist and those gothic towers looming... gives me the shivers, and maybe a slight urge to write poetry in a garret. Curator: Stieglitz, a key figure in the Pictorialist movement, frequently depicted urban scenes. The framing here, particularly, showcases how he sought to capture a feeling. He was aiming for artistic effect rather than strict realism, much like a painter would. This particular piece allows us to explore themes of industrialization and urbanization during the early 20th century. Editor: You nailed it. I mean, just look at the light. It’s gorgeous, all dappled on the water, but those smokestacks—it’s beautiful and grotesque at the same time. All that promise, all that, well, ambition, coming at a cost. Curator: Exactly. There’s a tension between the romantic aesthetic and the gritty reality of city life. Considering it within a social context, we have rising class divisions and labor movements. This tension underscores how Stieglitz used visual media to portray socio-economic ambiguities. Editor: Makes me wonder what those workers thought, looking up at those towers rising… knowing they’d likely never see the view from the top. Do you think that Stieglitz intended for it to feel so loaded? Curator: Knowing his involvement in discussions around art's function in societal change, it's quite possible that such considerations influenced his decisions in framing this photograph. Editor: It definitely feels intentional. I love how this old photograph manages to spark all these very modern anxieties. Art is a real trip sometimes, you know? Curator: Indeed. Its capacity to remain relevant, to echo across generations and provoke further interrogation, that's where the intrigue lies. Editor: It definitely nails that uncanny feeling we still get with big cities even now. It's beautiful and imposing... now where's my sketchbook?