Reflections: Night—New York 1897

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph, "Reflections: Night—New York," in the early part of the twentieth century. Immediately, the eye is drawn to the interplay of light and shadow across the composition. The wet pavement reflects the city lights, blurring the distinction between the solid ground and the ethereal glow of the lamps above. The structural framework of the photograph is built upon contrasting elements. The organic forms of the bare trees reach into the sky, their branches like delicate lines against the solid geometry of the buildings in the background. This contrast between nature and urban space is mediated by the reflective surface of the water, which dissolves the hard edges of the city into soft, shimmering forms. Stieglitz uses the materiality of photography to capture a moment of fleeting beauty, transforming the urban landscape into a study of light, reflection, and form. The photograph challenges conventional notions of beauty by finding aesthetic value in the everyday, showing how the formal qualities of light and composition can transform our perception of the world around us.