Trees 1924 - 1927

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph, called *Trees*, at an unknown date using gelatin silver print. Look at the dark clouds and the way they contrast with the spindly tree branches. It's a study in contrasts: light and dark, solid and ephemeral, organic and atmospheric. There's a real tactile quality to this image, even though it's a photograph. The way the light catches the edges of the clouds, you can almost feel the moisture in the air. And the bare branches of the trees, they reach up like skeletal fingers, creating a kind of graphic dance against the sky. Notice that small circle peeking through the clouds. Is it the sun or the moon? I love that Stieglitz leaves it ambiguous. Thinking about how Georgia O'Keeffe, his wife, also found such a lot of dynamism in natural forms, it's just amazing to see how these artists saw the world and each other! Art is always a conversation.