Songs of the Sky P4 1923

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph, "Songs of the Sky P4," using gelatin silver print. I can imagine him looking up, framing the shot, and getting it just right. He was probably thinking about clouds, about the sky, and how to capture something so fleeting. This tree is like a dark shape against the clouds, almost like a drawing. The leaves are dancing and swirling, and the clouds are soft and dreamy, forming a beautiful contrast. It reminds me of Georgia O'Keeffe, how she looked at flowers and saw something bigger, something about life itself. Stieglitz and O'Keeffe were always pushing each other, seeing how far they could go. It is a little like de Kooning and Gorky in their day, both of them searching, grabbing ideas, and experimenting. That's what artists do – we look, we learn, and we keep the conversation going.