Apple Tree 1921

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph called "Apple Tree" sometime in his life, and it's a real study in contrasts, not just light and shadow, but texture too. You can almost feel the rough bark against the smooth, weathered clapboard of the building behind. What gets me is the way those branches reach out, kind of like arms, each with its own gesture. See how the light catches the edges, defining their forms? It’s not just about capturing what’s there, but also about how Stieglitz chose to see it. It reminds me of some of Paul Strand's close-up photographs of natural forms. They shared a similar eye for detail and abstraction within the everyday. And like Strand, Stieglitz isn't just showing us an apple tree; he is inviting us to really look, to find the beauty in the ordinary, and to understand that art is as much about seeing as it is about showing.